You're Not So Bad
by Wendy McCalister
Summary: AU, Shuichi Minamino and Botan Fukuyama are somehow forced to live together. They don't like each other which makes the whole thing harder to deal with. But as things happen, will love blossom? Kurama x Botan, multiple-chapter story. Chapter 10 edited!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. It belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi.**

**You're Not So Bad**

**Chapter 1**

"Are you serious?!"

Botan Fukuyama screeched.

Her eyes stared disbelievingly at her dad, Yukio Fukuyama.

Yukio, who had been trying to fit all their belonging in one, big bag (though it seemed like he was far from successful), rolled his eyes at her before retorting in an irritated voice, "For the _eleventh_ time already, I'm serious."

"How serious are you?"

Botan sounded like she thought he was insane.

And he probably was.

You see, her Dad had been dating a woman named Shiori for two weeks now. The two lovebirds seemed very happy together and that was obvious by the way he talked about nothing but Shiori in those two weeks. Shiori, Shiori, Shiori... Shiori this, Shiori that, _everything_ was about Shiori. He was so into the woman that he didn't even acknowledge his daughter's existence even for once second. At all. Nothing. Nada.

And frankly, it was annoying the hell out of Botan.

Oh, don't get her wrong. It wasn't like she didn't want him to be happy, neither did she hate Shiori (she hadn't even met her yet so Botan didn't think she knew if she liked her or not). From what she heard – because sometimes, she had no choice but to listen to her Dad's ramblings – Shiori was a kind-hearted, polite woman who not only knew how to cook for a man, but also knew to take good care of a man's heart.

In Botan's point of view, Shiori was nice. Maybe too nice even. But, let's talk logically here. What kid wouldn't get peeved if their parents talked nothing about their lover for 24/7 and complete ignore them?

Unfortunately, getting pissed off wasn't the worse thing that happened though.

Apparently, after going out for weeks, her Dad and his lover decided to do something to get them closer to each other. Something that was completely nuts in Botan's opinion.

And seriously, it didn't matter how nice or perfect this 'special lady' was, it still didn't make any sense to move into _her house_ after only dating each other for a couple of weeks. Of course, Botan knew, and predicted, that they would make some improvements in their relationship but the teen girl obviously didn't expect this kind of improvement. Moving into your lover's house, not to mention bringing your kid along with you? A very, very, _very_, big, and drastic step.

Yukio heaved out a sigh. "As a heart attack."

He was serious? _He was actually serious_? Botan had thought that maybe if she kept pestering him with questions like "Are you serious?" or "Why?" would end up making him say something like, "Okay, okay. I'm just pulling your leg" or anything else that was similar that meant he was only tricking her.

It seemed like he wasn't though.

And a thought occurred to her:

Her dad had completely lost his mind.

"You've lost your mind," Botan said, saying the exact same thing that was in her head.

Yukio stopped his efforts to fit their things in the damn bag (which just won't fit) to look at her.

"You're crazy. Are you drunk? Or are you on drugs? 'Cause it looks to me like you're not really thinking straight, dad."

To Botan's utter shock, and horror, her dad's lips curved up into an ear-to-ear grin. Ignoring her obviously abnormal questions, he dreamily replied, "I am crazy. Crazy in love."

Botan could've sworn she never saw something so disgusting in her entire life.

* * *

><p>"Are you sure about this?"<p>

Shuichi Minamino stared at the woman in the kitchen cooking something for their guests (more like permanent guests), his emerald eyes in a pool of concern; concern of the decision that his mother and her lover apparently made and, concerned that his beloved mother would end up regretting it someday.

"Yes, I am, dear..." Shiori replied, a smile forming on her face as she thought of her life together with the man of her dreams: Yukio Fukuyama.

"But don't you think you guys should slow down a bit?" he asked again.

Shuichi had to admit, he didn't really know much about this Yukio guy that his mother was going out with. Shiori never really told him much about him, mostly because he was usually busy with his studies and school activities. It wasn't like Shuichi didn't want to know though. He wanted to know, really, but it seemed to him Shiori didn't want to disturb her son, knowing perfectly that his time schedule was filled with nothing but school.

Although Shuichi did lack a lot of information about the man, he could tell that whoever Yukio was, Shiori was really happy to be with him. Yes, Shiori was always happy but since she met Yukio, she seemed happier. It was evident by the way she would sometimes smile or blush with no reason whatsoever.

And Shuichi thought that it was a good thing.

Not until Shiori told him that the two lovers would be living together in their house from now on, which had surprised the redhead when he heard it. To him, it sounded like they were taking their relationship too fast. Really, Shuichi wasn't an expert in anything involving love – heck – he had never even been in love but, he knew for sure you shouldn't move into your lover's house just after two weeks of dating each other.

It was rash.

Shuichi had to wonder if the man his mother was seeing had actually manipulated her into doing something so stupid.

The teen wasn't dumb enough to voice his thoughts though.

"Hmm...I know we're taking it too fast, but...I really love this man, Shuichi..." She sighed.

Shuichi nodded his head. "Yes, I know that, mother," he paused for a moment, thinking of the best way to tell her what he was thinking before finally continuing his sentence, "but, isn't this decision too...hasty?"

"I know it is," Shiori started, turning around to gaze at him with a big, confident smile on her lips.

And Shuichi could only hope, and pray, that his mother wouldn't get her own heart broken as Shiori said:

"But, I'm more than willing to live my whole life with him."

* * *

><p>The car sped through other vehicles on the road, going at a fast speed that would scare any drivers off.<p>

Botan, who was comfortably seated at the backseat (and completely ignoring the dangerous way her dad was driving the car) stared at her dad – or rather his back – with a weird look as if he had just duplicate or had two heads stuck on one body.

"This is stupid," she muttered under her breath, crossing her arms and finally taking her eyes off Yukio's form – after practically long minutes of staring at him with that strange expression on her face –, now averting her gaze to the window.

Botan had said those words in a low voice that anyone would, or could barely hear, so it had taken her by surprise when Yukio suddenly called out to her, "What was that, Botan?"

Although she was shocked at the high hearing capability her dad had suddenly discovered, the shock died down soon after and the azure-haired teen decided to not answer him.

Yukio averted his eyes to the mirror to stare at his daughter's reflection, who was staring back at him and urged her, "What did you say?"

Botan rolled her eyes. "Nothing."

"You said something."

"I said nothing."

"No, I heard you."

"You didn't."

"What does that mean?"

"That means I think you're delusional, and that you probably heard it in your head, dad."

A vein popped.

"Spit it out, young lady."

"Don't call me-"

"NOW."

Botan let out an exasperated sound, gripping her head in her hands before giving Yukio an cheesed off expression. "I said, this is stupid."

A frown marred Yukio's features as he asked her in a tone which meant 'no-more-playing-games-just-answer-me', "And why is that?" His dark purple eyes stared at her as he waited for her to reply.

Botan would've kept her mouth shut, not saying anything and just ignoring Yukio just to annoy him and somehow put some sense in his head if it hadn't been for the seriousness in his voice. She knew him more than anyone else. Yukio was a bit of an air-head sometimes and maybe loved to goof around than actually being the responsible parent he was supposed to be but, she knew that when Yukio was serious, he had no sense of humor whatsoever and playing around or trying to get on his nerves were not really good ideas.

"I..." Botan trailed off, glancing at him before looking away then continued, "...just think it's a bit too..."

"A bit too...?"

Yukio raised an eyebrow at her quizzically.

Botan watched him for a moment, biting the inside of her cheek as she thought of a good way to continue what she was about to say. When she found none, she decided to say something else.

The azure-haired girl shook her head furiously before opening her mouth to speak again, this time using a different sentence. "I mean..., living together? Seriously? Why don't you guys just get married? You've just known her for about...two weeks! Don't you think it's dumb?"

Yukio sighed.

"I know it's a big step, Botan."

Botan retorted, "Huge."

He rolled his eyes. "Okay, huge step. Whatever." Yukio then turned around to look at her, forgetting that he was driving (which Botan forgot about too) as he said softly, "I know it's a really huge thing, but I love this woman. And I can actually see myself living happily ever after with her."

Botan ignored the 'happily ever after' and responded, "I know you do. And I can tell, that it's a lot. A LOT." She remembered the times when he talked endlessly about Shiori before adding, "But...this is just happening...too fast, okay?"

Not realizing that he had nearly hit more than a few pedestrians the whole time he turned around, Yukio gave her a gentle smile before ruffling her hair roughly, which earned a protest from her and he laughed at this. "It's okay. You'll love it soon enough."

Botan was about to snort when he suddenly added, "Plus, you'll even get to live with someone around your age."

Hearing this, she looked at him with big anticipated eyes as she leaned into him. "She has a child?"

A nod was her response.

The girl who was obviously against the idea in the first place, suddenly started to like it bit by bit as she eagerly asked him, "A boy or a girl?"

He smiled. "A boy."

Okay, forget about liking it, Botan begin to hate the idea even more. "Huh?! A boy? I'm actually going to live under the same roof as a boy? No way ho zay!"

Yukio frowned at her. "But why-" He was soon cut off as a loud noise interrupted their conversation, and something hit the car, gaining the two's attention and immediately shutting both of them up as they simultaneously looked at the source of the sound.

Botan's eyes widened as she let out another piercing screech that day.

"YOU IDIOT! YOU FUCKING HIT A SIGN, FOR GOD'S SAKE!"

* * *

><p>Shiori frowned. Her eyes stared at the stove in what seemed like a look of...lost? She was sure that she was forgetting something. Something important that had something to do with Yukio. What was it again? She racked her brain for a few moments before finally remembering what she had fail to recall.<p>

Looking over her shoulder, Shiori shouted,

"Oh, yes! Shuichi, can you come here for a minute..."

Shuichi, who had been sitting on the couch, contemplating on what would happen from then, was snapped out of his thoughts when Shiori's voice called from the kitchen. He shouted back, "Okay, mother. Wait a sec!"

Lifting himself up from the couch, Shuichi sauntered into the kitchen and walked over to his mother's side. The redhead gave her a gentle smile before saying in a soft manner, "What is it, mother? Do you need me to help you with something?"

Shiori smiled back at him and shook her head. "No, I just forgot to tell you something..."

Shuichi arched his eyebrow in curiosity at hearing this, his emerald eyes holding a look of bewilderment in them as he asked, "What did you forget?"

At that moment, Shuichi decided to lend his mother a helping hand – even though he knew she didn't ask for any assistance – and took a knife before beginning to cut the vegetables (his mother wanted to add salad into the menu) expertly.

"Yukio has a daughter..."

PANG!

Shiori almost jumped at the surprisingly loud noise. She took a glance at Shuichi who, apparently, had somehow slammed the kitchen knife so hard that it was actually stuck to the kitchen's counter.

"Shuichi...?"

"Are you telling me..." he said slowly, his face paling at the thought. "...a girl is actually going to live here with us?"

Shiori's shock had somewhat vanish as she arched a brow at him. "Yes."

Seeing Shuichi's face grow paler at her answer, she asked worriedly and a bit disappointingly, "Why? What's wrong with it?"

Now, Shuichi didn't really have a phobia of girls or something. He just wasn't really fond of them and had pretty bad...experiences with them. As the memories flashed in his head, he shuddered at the thoughts of the fangirls from his school stalking him wherever he went, asking him to go out with them on more times than he could actually count, and doing some freakish things like buying voodoo dolls of anyone who they thought had a close relationship with him and practically willing to kill or die just for him.

What was more horrifyingly terrible was that his fangirls weren't the only psychopaths. Girls, same age, younger, or older, would take a long minute just to stare at him and probably spend the whole day stalking him and following him around like some crazed maniac.

So, a girl in their house wasn't something Shuichi think he'd 'love'. Especially when the biggest possibility was that that girl, whoever she was, was just like the girls who were literally obsessed with him – clingy, control freaks, stalkers – you name it.

"No...nothing at all, mother. Nothing's wrong. It's just...a girl? Hmm..."

Shuichi looked away for a fleeting moment.

Finally understanding her son's anxiety (because she had seen how girls act around him), Shiori burst into a fit of giggles before patting Shuichi's red head softly and explaining, "Oh, don't worry, Shuichi. I don't think she's like that...Yukio says not once in his history of taking care of the girl did he ever see her drooling or swooning over some guy, so I doubt she'll even look at you..."

Shuichi pursed his lips at her words.

Although Shuichi didn't really like it when girls love him and practically worshiped him, he was actually used to being looked at, stared at and swooned at by many (he just didn't like the way they expressed their affections towards him). He liked to be seen as someone charming and irresistible.

The thought of one girl not noticing him, or feeling at least a little bit attracted to him was a bit...

...disappointing and frustrating at the same time.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. It belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi.**

**You're Not So Bad**

**Chapter 2**

A knock was heard at the door.

Shiori who had just finish cooking, squealed at the sound – something that Shuichi had never seen his mother done before which surprised him – and practically ran excitedly towards the door. Shuichi followed her (the shock of seeing Shiori act like a simpering school girl had somewhat died down), but he seemed far less thrilled than his mother was.

Shiori opened the door, revealing two people who looked like they had a hard time getting there.

Shuichi took in their appearance, noting the man with dark-blue hair and dark purple eyes who was sporting a sheepish grin on his face and scratching the back of his head. And were those bruises?

_'Hmm...I guess that's Yukio. He looks a bit younger than I expected him to be.' _He watched as the man talked to his mother (who had gasp when she saw his condition) about a car and a sign or something. A car crash? Or did their car hit a sign on the way to their house? Shuichi suspected the latter but either way he didn't really care that much. Seeing the grin that was never gone from his face, Shuichi could only conclude one thing about Yukio: _'And he definitely seems more cheerful than I thought he would be.'_

Deciding that he had enough of observing Yukio for a while – he would watch him some other time, they had plenty of time to get to know each other since they were now supposed to be living in the same house –, he turned his attention to a girl who looked fairly similar to the man.

She also had blue hair, except hers was a bit lighter in color than her dad's was. Shuichi noted for a moment that it was almost identical to the color of the sky then he moved to her eyes which were purple – again, lighter than Yukio's eyes were – but they seemed more like...amethyst, perhaps? They were the same as the stone was, causing Shuichi to momentarily consider them beautiful before he decided to shrug it off.

Then, his thoughts turned back to her hair. Why was it azure anyway? Was she born with it? Or did she dye it or something? Shuichi decided to think about it for a few moments before once again concluding that it didn't really matter how she got that hair color. It was unique in his opinion.

His eyes then drifted to her facial features. Other than her eyes and her hair, her face wasn't bad either. Pink, soft lips and high cheekbones. No pimples or scars, and her skin seemed very smooth from what he saw. She had a scowl on her lips though – which made him sure that she also didn't like the idea of moving in their house – and Shuichi noted, if she was smiling, she would've look prettier. Besides the scowl, her hair was also slightly messy but there she didn't have any bruises on her face like her father did.

But the girl was undoubtedly attractive.

When the girl suddenly averted her gaze to him, Shuichi immediately looked away, obviously not wanting to get caught staring.

The girl seemed to notice it though.

Botan's brows furrowed, the uninterested look that was on her face was soon replaced by a look of bewilderment as she stared at the redhead in front of her. Although she had no intentions of looking at him in the first place – she had turn to look at him because she felt he was watching her –, as Botan watched him, she couldn't really help but notice that the boy was very, very, good looking.

His long, crimson hair was neatly kept, and Botan quickly noticed: Although the boy had long hair, he didn't really look that girly; it actually made his appearance more striking. His eyes were also green, but they seemed like they were bordering on emerald. Then she thought to herself, his eyes were more beautiful than the gem was though.

Her thoughts were cut short when Shiori's voice reached her ears.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Here I am, talking, when I didn't even let you come in yet," the woman said in an apologizing way.

Yukio who hadn't even realized the fact until Shiori had told him, shook his head and waved his hands in front of him. "No, no. You don't have to apologize, darling. It's my fault for opening my mouth in the first place."

Shuichi arched an eyebrow. Meanwhile Botan frowned at this. The same thought went through their heads:

_'Darling?'_

Shiori's cheeks turned red. "N-no, it isn't. It's mine really, sweetheart."

The two teenagers sweatdropped.

_'Sweetheart?!__'_

Shuichi and Botan watched as Yukio's face turned red, while Shiori's got redder than it was before, and they both looked down to their feet at the same time. Seeing the two lovebirds flashing one of their romantic moments, Botan stared at them (although it seemed like she was staring at her dad) in disgust. Shuichi, on the other hand, turned away, getting slightly uncomfortably at the lovey-dovey atmosphere.

The same thoughts occured to the two of them for the third time that day:

_'I don't think I'll ever get used to this...'_

The azure-haired teen who noticed that they were still standing at the door (Seriously, when were they going to come in?!), cleared her throat, gaining the two adults' attentions and finally making them realize that they were still standing there.

Shiori nodded her head – the blush gone from her face, though her cheeks were still tinted pink –, stepping aside – Shuichi didn't need to since he had been waiting for them to enter the house – and letting them inside. Botan heaved a relief sigh at this; relieved because she didn't need to stand at the same place anymore but mostly because she didn't have to watch her dad and his lover being all mushy and sweet.

"You're Botan, right?"

Hearing her name, Botan turned her head to look at the owner of the voice, Shiori whose lips was tugged into a small smile as she watched her. Although she obviously didn't like the public display of affection Shiori and Yukio had just a few moments ago, Botan couldn't help but smile back. I mean, what was she supposed to do? The woman looked so nice that she couldn't really hold her disgust for so long.

"Um, yes."

To Botan's utter shock, Shiori suddenly enveloped her in a hug, attracting the other two attentions as they turned to look at the two females. "Eh...Err...Shiori-san...?" the girl slowly said, her voice in embarrassment as a blush crept to her face.

Shiori, not realizing the obviously uncomfortable Botan, squealed in a girlish voice that the teen girl doubted a woman her age could actually pull of. "I can't believe it. I finally get to meet you! I've been waiting for so long for this moment. Ahhh~"

Shuichi sweatdropped, and looked at the girl's expression. _'She looks anything but comfortable...' _

Botan nodded her head once in slow motion, before letting out an awkward laugh. Seriously, being hugged by a woman she barely knew yet was pretty embarrassing for her, not to mention weird, too! And although she tried not to show her shame, she was failing at it when everyone in the house (other than Shiori) could actually see "embarrassment" written all over her face. "I-I...uh...I really don't know what to say to that, Shiori-san..."

Hearing this, Shiori's delightful expression changed into a frown and she pulled away – Botan was more than pleased at this –, before ordering in a motherly-way, one finger in the air as she moved it to the left and to the right. "Don't call me Shiori-san, Botan. Just Shiori."

Shuichi who had heard the girl's name, nodded inwardly. So her name was Botan, was it? Beautiful name for a beautiful girl, he proposed.

"I think I'm fine with calling you Shiori-san," Botan replied.

The woman pouted at this. "Oh, Botan-chan! No need to be formal. We're all family now!" she stated excitedly, raising her arms in the air and dancing around the living room for a moment before finally stopping her dancing and walking to the kitchen in a happy, exhilarated manner.

Botan sweatdropped. What was with the sudden add of "chan" behind her name? Not to mention, that family word? Botan hardly believed they were already a family. They barely knew each other! "Yeah, family...sure..."

"And you know what family members do? We eat together!"

Yukio's lips curved up into a grin. "Oh yes! Let's eat together. What did you cook for us, darling (Shuichi and Botan shuddered at the word)? I can't wait! You always make the most delicious food," he praised.

His lover's cheeks turned red at this. "Oh, sweetheart. Stop that...You're making me blush!"

His grin widened as he teasingly added, "It's fine. I like it when you blush."

Botan, who was sure that she was about to throw up from all the affection the two were showing, rolled her eyes and muttered sarcastically under her breath, "Oh, great..." She kept her voice low, trying not to let her dad hear her.

Unfortunately he did.

That resulted to Yukio giving her a hard pinch at her arm, which caused her to know that he had heard her, and she winced at the pain before shooting a glare at her dad's direction.

But he ignored her, sporting a grin on his face as if nothing had happened.

"Stupid dad..." Botan mumbled, now rubbing her arm and glaring at Yukio's back. The glaring stopped when she heard Shiori shouted from the kitchen, "Shuichi! Can you come here and help me set the table?"

The redhead shouted back. "Yes, mother!"

With that, he went to the kitchen to go help her.

Shuichi? So the handsome boy was called Shuichi, huh? _'Hmm...Shuichi-kun...Shuichi-kun, Shuichi-kun...!' _She playfully thought, a grin appearing on her lips.

She couldn't deny it really, he _was _gorgeous. Propably the most handsome-st – Botan highly doubt that it was a word but she would use it anyway – male she had ever seen in her entire life. She slightly wonder if his brains _and _personality were as good as his looks were. If he was-

"Hey, you're not crushing on Shiori's son, are you?"

Botan's thoughts were cut short by the sound of her dad's voice.

Yukio had noticed the grin that was on her face and, he had to ponder for a bit if his daughter was _actually _attracted to the boy. And frankly, if she was, he would be scared and disturbed by it. Of course, he knew that Botan was a girl. So he did expect her to like a guy, sooner or later but if he found out she had suddenly developed a crush for someone she barely knew..., well, let's just say he was not expecting that.

He wouldn't mind if she did though.

The girl arched an eyebrow at him. "Seriously, dad? I don't even know him!"

"You know his name." Shiori had only said it once since they had been there, but Yukio knew that Botan wasn't an idiot and would've probably heard it.

Botan rolled her eyes. "Please," she snorted. "I'm not going to like him just because he's so darn cute, dad-"

She was cut off. "A-ha! So you do admit he's attractive!"

The azure-haired teen groaned at this. "Have you ever heard of physical attraction? For your information, it's normal," she sarcastically shot back.

Yukio laughed. "Normal? I didn't think you could _be_ normal," he said, letting the word 'be' stretch a little to emphasize his point.

A vein popped. "Ha-ha. Very funny, dad." Botan's voice dripped with sarcasm, an annoyed look appearing on her features.

The man then stopped laughing, and patted her shoulder. "It's good that you're not really into him. Not that I don't like it if you were, just saying if you were I wasn't expecting your first crush would be on a complete stranger."

Botan let out a mocked laugh. "Says the guy who moves into his woman's house just after a couple of weeks of going out..."

"Hey!"

She ignored him, walking to the kitchen. The idea of eating dinner at the house of the people you don't really know was not what she'd call something she thought was 'good'. But considering she was hungry and her stomach had been growling for a long time now, she thought, oh what the heck. Plus, she could also finally taste Shiori's legendary cooking that her dad kept telling her about.

* * *

><p>"Oh, darling! You don't need to worry about your looks. You look beautiful!"<p>

"But, sweetheart, I'm not getting any younger, you know..."

"Now, what's that supposed to mean?" Yukio was holding Shiori's hand now.

"I think I'm getting wrinkles..."

He brought a finger to her chin, tilting her face so she would be looking at him and said lovingly, "I don't see any wrinkles. You're as beautiful as always, and you will always be beautiful."

Shiori seemed happy to hear this. "Oh, sweetheart!" She hugged him.

The two lovers continued their romantic moment, ignoring Shuichi and Botan who had been watching the whole time (they were sure they were about to throw up from all the love the two were showing).

They had been talking about their relationship for hours (it probably didn't reach an hour even, but it sure as hell felt long) now. From stories of their dates, to how much they love each other, to how they'd always dream of living like this and finally to the current topic now.

Shuichi decided to get away as far as possible from the disturbing and awkward scene (from his point of view, it was anyway). It scared him to watch his mother displaying her affection in front of him (and the fact that they were too lovey-dovey was also terrifying). Not to mention, weird. "Um...I think I'll excuse myself now..."

Botan had decided the same thing that precise moment, too. She obviously didn't want to watch the two adults anymore. Was that how lovers act together in front of other people? If it was, then Botan would be more than disgusted by it. She was sure that she'd prefer the cheesy romance dramas over this. She didn't even know that her dad could be so...ugh. She couldn't even bear to think about it. "Yeah, me too..."

The two teenagers were about to get up from their seats and would probably be leaving now if it Shiori hadn't stop them. "Oh, Shuichi, Botan-chan...Sit here for a little longer."

"I'd love to," Shuichi lied. "But I've got a lot of a homework to do, mother. It's my top priority now," he said, trying to come up with a reasonable excuse so that he didn't have to sit there watching the two. Of course, he always had a ton of paper work but he could always do them later.

But if it meant he could get out of there, then he was willing to lie.

"Uh...yeah. I mean, I don't have any homework like Shuichi does...but, um...I think I'm going to sleep. Uh-huh. Sleep. I'm _really_ tired," Botan said, trying to emphasize her point by pretending to yawn and stretching the word 'really'.

"Shuichi," Shiori started. His mother had obviously believed it. "I know you do..." she paused and Shuichi momentarily thought,_ 'Oh, no,' _already knowing what she was about to say. "...but just stay with us for a bit. It's not for long, I promise."

The redhead sighed. Although he wanted so badly to leave, he didn't really have the heart to refuse his mother's request so he sat down.

Botan, on the other hand, was about to walk away when her dad suddenly called. "Botan."

She muttered some curses under her breath. She knew that Yukio didn't believe her story. He would always know if she was lying to get out of a situation or if she wasn't. "What?" Botan replied, trying not to snap at him, knowing that Shiori was there and she didn't want to show her that she was pissed (since Shiori looked so nice and all).

"I know you're tired," he said sweetly. The girl could tell that he was obviously faking it but Shiori didn't notice it. Shuichi did though and he turned to look at the man for a moment before averting his gaze to Botan, watching the both of them back and forth for a while before shrugging it off. Why did it matter anyway? "But you can just sleep later."

She scratched the back of her head. "Uh...I think I'll sleep now, dad..."

"Later."

"I want to. Now."

"Don't you want to join us family on this lovely evening?"

Shuichi and Botan inwardly rolled their eyes. '_Lovely my ass...' _(Botan) _'This evening has been anything BUT lovel_y...' (Shuichi)

But remembering that Shiori was there, Botan decided to return to her seat. "Sure, dad." She tried to sound as sweet as she could, even though her head was already thinking of various ways to kill Yukio.

"I was just thinking, Shuichi," Yukio spoke again, this time referring to Shuichi and the said teen turned his attention to him, "I've always wanted a son."

Shuichi arched an eyebrow at this. '_Oo...kay...?' _he thought slowly, sipping his juice for a bit.

"You know, someone who I can go fishing with..."

The boy nodded once.

"...go to the arcade with..."

Once again he nodded.

"...have a guy's night or something..."

Another nod.

"...and maybe we can go check out some chicks, too!"

_'Eh?'_

Shuichi could've sworn he almost choked on his drink.

To his relief, the man laughed. "Just kidding, just kidding! I already have my beloved darling. I'm not going to look at other women. You don't have to worry about your mother, Shuichi." With that said, Yukio gave Shiori a flirtatious wink.

Shuichi laughed, although his sounded forced. "Um..., sure..."

The two adults didn't notice it. "Oh yeah, darling, I think you did say something of wanting a daughter, right?" He gazed at his lover.

She giggled. "Yes. I've never had one before. I mean, my coworkers always tell me how great to have a daughter was so I've always dreamed of one." Then she turned her head to Botan. "Which is why I know for sure I'm going to enjoy your company here, Botan-chan!"

The said girl let out the umpteenth awkward laugh she did that day. "I think so, too!" _'I don__'t think I'm going to enjoy being here like you do, Shiori...'_

"We can go shopping, have a sleep over...Oh, wait, we don't need a sleep over. We're already living together! Maybe you can go to my room some night and we can have a talk about boy problems and stuff!" the woman squealed before realizing, "Oh, wait. You don't really like boys, do you?"

Botan sweatdropped. "It's not that I don't like them, Shiori. I just...well, I've never really _liked_ a guy," she explained, emphasizing her point so Shiori would understand what she meant.

"She doesn't really have the capability of liking one, darling. I've even started to wonder if she likes girls," Yukio joked.

"Oh, sweetheart, that's not a nice thing to say to your daughter." Shiori burst into a fit of giggles, hitting him playfully by the shoulder.

"Yeah." Botan's leg kicked him under the table, which earned a wince from him. "I don't think that it's a nice thing to say, either."

He let out a fake laugh, "Oh, I'm sorry, honey," he said mockingly sweet. "Daddy was just JOKING." He tried to kick her back but she moved her legs aside. He inwardly scowled at this, even though the grin didn't disappeared from his lips. Yukio thought for a moment for a way to have his payback before an idea hit him. The grin on his face got bigger and Botan blinked at this only to frown deeply when his fingers reached her nose, pinching it playfully (and hardly). "Don't be so sensitive."

Botan let a fake laugh escaped her lips, "Sure, daddy. I won't be so sensitive next time," she faked a sweet voice.

Shiori (who didn't notice that they were just faking the whole thing) squealed at this. "Aww~ A father and daughter moment! So sweet~!" Shuichi once again saw through the acting, but he just smiled and shook his head slightly.

Deciding that he was tired of sitting there, Shuichi excused himself again. "I think I have to go now, mother."

Shiori who had been busy watching 'the sweet father and daughter moment' turned her attention to him. Her lips changed into a pout before a smile slowly formed on them. "Okay."

With that, he got up and left.

* * *

><p>Shuichi dropped his pencil, heaving a sigh as he massaged his temple.<p>

_'I'm finally done...'_

Closing his books, he got up from his writing desk. After a few hours (maybe two or three) of nothing but paper, he had finally finish all of them. But he did wonder where some of his books were. He hadn't notice that they weren't there until he tried to find them. Thankfully, none of the particular books were homework he needed to get done. He had only searched for them at first because he'd thought about doing some revision after finishing homework. His guess was he had somehow accidentally left them at school.

Shrugging it off (he'd find them sooner or later), Shuichi walked rather tiredly to his bed, throwing himself on it when he finally reached it. Once again he sighed, closing his eyes for a while before opening them again and staring at the ceiling.

_'Yukio doesn't seem that bad...he's friendly and probably has a good sense of humor, too.' _He thought, a smile slowly appearing on his lips. Besides the really awkward way they showed their affections for each other, Shuichi was happy Shiori found a nice man. Although the idea of moving in still sounded a bit crazy to him, Shuichi was pretty sure that he'd get used to it soon.

And that girl? _'Botan, was it?' _He had to admit that he was a bit attracted to her, not in an emotional way, a physical way of course. He had never seen a girl who was unique and pretty as she was and she seemed to like Shiori.

Remembering the way she and her dad acted around each other, a chuckle erupted from his chest and he once again shook his head at the memory. _'I could get used to her, too.'_

Shuichi sniffed. A frown marred his features at the smell. He sighed. He hadn't realize he didn't take a shower before and now he smelt like sweat (probably from doing too much homework, good thing he finished it fast though).

He lifted himself up from his position reluctantly, now sitting on his bed and scratched his head. He wanted to lie there longer but he didn't really like the smell of sweat on his body so he got up.

_'Time for a shower...'_

* * *

><p>Her amethyst eyes scanned the room.<p>

It was pretty big, surely bigger than her room back at their old house. Although there were no decorations, she was sure she could have that fixed in no time at all. Shiori was really nice to give her such a big room, she thought.

She put her bags on the bed, which was big enough for her and was about to unpack her things when Shiori shouted from downstairs.

"Botan-chan! Can you come down for a sec?"

The girl raised an eyebrow at this, wondering for a moment what Shiori wanted to say to her. Shrugging, she dragged her feet out of the room and went downstairs. She was greeted by the sight of a smiling Shiori who had some school books in her hands. Botan doubt they belong to Shiori so that left one person only. Shuichi's maybe?

Smiling back at the woman, she asked, "What is it?"

The older female handed the books to her which she accepted and told her, "Can you go and give these books to Shuichi? His friend drop by earlier and said he left them at school. I would've given them to him myself but when I called for him, he didn't reply."

Botan silently wondered who this 'friend' of Shuichi's was, and what he could be so busy doing that he didn't even realized that his mother called, before deciding to shrug it off. It didn't matter really. She was curious but she didn't think it was that important.

Nodding her head at the woman, the smile on her face widened slightly. "Sure, Shiori."

The said woman then beamed happily. "Oh~! I can't wait to spend some time with you," she excitedly gushed before dancing all the way to the living room for the second time that day.

Botan sweatdropped.

* * *

><p>She knocked, frowning when there was no answer.<p>

Botan's hand reached for the doorknob, while trying to hold on to the books with her other hand, and opened the door, revealing a big, blue-colored room that was far bigger than hers was.

She noticed he wasn't there and began to wonder where he was before turning around to leave only to stop in her tracks when the sound of a door opening. What door was that? The bathroom? She hadn't notice one when she entered.

Her eyes widened.

Just as it opened, Shuichi, who had nothing but a towel to cover his _special _part, came out. Botan was so surprised by this that she dropped the books on the floor and felled back. And naturally, Botan's eyes stared at him. His body wasn't bad either. His skin was perfect (not too dark and not too pale either) and he wasn't too musle-y for her taste but he was still irresistible. Not to mention, the way the water traveled down his chest and abdomen, and the dripping droplets on his hair made him look even more...er, delicious...? She didn't really know what to think then.

Shuichi, not noticing the girl, had only realized she was there when he turned his head to the sound, expecting to see a few books on the floor (he thought his books felled from the table) but he was greeted by the sight of Botan, who was now staring at him wide-eyed, her jaw dropped and a blush creeping up her cheeks. And a few books were around her.

Blood rushed to his face. Botan?! What was she doing in here? He wondered before realizing something, the blush on his cheeks deepening at the sight.

She was sitting on the floor, with her legs slightly spread (though she didn't seem to realize they were) and Shuichi saw a rather, er, pleasant...view of her panties.

"Uh...Botan-san-"

He was cut off when Botan threw a book at him and the reading material had even stuck to his face long enough for him to see the cover and realize that it was one of the books he left back at school. Shuichi didn't have the time to thank Botan for the book (she threw it at him, for God's sake!) though. He removed the book from his face and threw it on the table rather harshly.

Forget about being very attractive, the girl was bordering on pissing him off. He obviously DID NOT like the idea of a getting a book thrown to his face. And ouch, it had hurt like hell. Narrowing his emerald eyes at her, he shouted,

"What was that for?!"

The blush on her face got deeper as she yelled indignantly at him. "Shuichi, you idiot!"

"_I'm_ the idiot?!"

"Yes, you are!"

"You're the idiot!" he shouted back.

Botan gawked at him. "Why am _I _the idiot?!" Getting up, she threw another book at him.

Unfortunately, Shuichi dodged it perfectly, the book hitting the wall hard. The redhead grabbed one of his books from the table threw it back at her. "Because _you're_ the one who came in here, trying to peep on me and threw a book at my FACE!"

Botan yelped as the book flew at her direction, before bending down, the book flying to the wall on her side. She got up and yelled angrily, grabbing one of his poor books which were still lying on the floor. "PEEP ON YOU?! Oh, please! Don't flatter yourself. I came in to give these to you!" Botan referred to his books, and threw the one that was in her hand. "So, here! Take them!" With that, she threw another one.

He successfully dodged the two and was about to shout at her again but was stopped short when she began to throw all his books at him, all of them end up hitting the wall and falling back to the floor when he managed to dodge all of them.

Except the last one.

It had hit him right in the face. Botan had put all her strength in throwing the last book and it had hit him so hard that he felled back on the floor with a loud thud.

It didn't take him long to grab it and throw it back at her though.

Botan who hadn't expected this (she thought that she threw it hard enough at him for him to at least, fall back a little longer but apparently he didn't as he immediately got up) didn't have time to dodge as it hit her at the same place it as Shuichi had got hit twice; in the face.

It hadn't hurt that much though. Shuichi had thrown it in a rather soft way because he couldn't gather his strength with his head spinning. Seriously! The girl had an arm of a dinosaur! That hit hurt him so much that he was beginning to feel dizzy even.

Botan's eyes gazed at him for a few moments. Even though he had taken two hard hits (the second being harder) on the face, his facial features didn't really took that much damage. He was still good-looking as ever, no nosebleeds or anything, except his face was a little red – Botan didn't know if it was red because of the impact of the hits or because he was angry, maybe both.

After a while, Shuichi finally regained his composure and glared at her. "You-"

His sentence was cut short when Shiori's voice was heard, followed by the sound of footsteps going up the stairs. "Shuichi? Botan-chan? Are you guys okay? What's all that noise?"

As if on instincts, both teenagers went for the door at the same time, literally sprinting on high speed. Their hands grabbed on the doorknob simultaneously, making Shuichi's hand touched hers and their bodies stood close to each other but the both of them didn't realize it as they were more worried about Shiori coming in and seeing Botan with an almost naked Shuichi.

Just as Shiori's head was seen (which meant that if she took a few more steps up the stairs, she would clearly see them), Shuichi and Botan immediately slammed the door shut.

Shiori, who heard the door close with a loud sound, ran up the stairs and grabbed the doorknob only to frown deeply when she tried to pull it but failed.

"Shuichi? Botan-chan? What's going on in there?"

The said teenagers kept their hands on the doorknob, pulling everytime Shiori pulled, and chorusly replied, "Nothing! We're just getting to know each other."

"What do you mean?"

"Uh..., we were laughing and talking, that's all," Botan answered, gulping slightly.

"Hmm...then what was all that noise I heard?"

Shuichi let out a shaky laugh. "Oh, that's just me and Botan-san. Were we laughing too loud? Ha-ha, sorry about that, mother."

"Why would you laugh so loud anyway?"

Shuichi thought for a moment before finally responding in a hesitant voice. "Um...Botan-san is just so funny. Yeah, that's it! She's hilarious. She just really cracks me up, mother. Ha-ha. Nothing's happening, really!"

Shiori was about to open her mouth to ask more questions but stopped herself. _'Hmm...maybe they're just getting along. Yes, I'm sure that's it.'_ With that, she reluctantly say, "Okay then, but don't be too loud next time, okay?"

"Okay." Both of them replied at the same time.

The two waited for Shiori to move away from the door for a moment, only releasing the doorknob when they heard footsteps going down the stairs. Heaving a sigh of relief that she was finally gone, Botan turned around to face Shuichi and give him a piece of her mind "Now-"

She was cut off when she accidentally tripped on Shuichi's feet (she had turned around but had kicked his feet by accident. They were standing too close, remember?) though, causing Shuichi to grab her and both of them to fall back on the floor, putting them in a...slightly weird position with Botan on top of the redhead, his arm wrapped around her waist, and her legs between his.

"O-ow..."

Botan mumbled, her eyes closed and was about to get up only to frown when she felt something hard against her and something wrapped around her, preventing her from moving. She opened her eyes and was face-to-chest with Shuichi's hard chest (not to mention her hands were on his chest too!). Her eyes widened and a blush appeared on her face. She lift her head up and saw Shuichi with a wide-eyed look on his face.

"U-uh...Shuichi..."

"Um..."

"I-I'm sorry...I didn't mean to fall-"

She was cut off when a low, husky chuckle escaped his lips. But when he opened his mouth, his voice sounded mocking as he said, "My, my, Botan. I didn't know you were that _eager _to have me." The "san" that had been behind her name was gone now.

"Huh?" Her blush darkened, and her jaw dropped as she stared at him with a look of horror. "Why you-" Her voice got higher but she was once again cut off, this time with Shuichi's finger planted softly on her lips. "Shh, be quiet or mother will hear you," he whispered.

Botan frowned at that before opening her mouth again to order him to let her go but was again silenced when he pulled her closer to him, his chest now against her clothed one (Botan's blush deepened at this) as he teasingly added, "We can't really do _it _now, or she'll hear us...Hmm...What to do, what to do..." Then he cocked his head to the side, faking an innocent look as his other hand reached his chin and he made a thinking posture for a while before turning to look at her with a smirk and a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Perhaps later. When everyone else is asleep. Because I don't really want you to hold back the sweet noises that are about to come out of your mouth."

He placed his lips near her ear and whispered seductively, "I want you to scream for me. _Loudly_."

Botan who had been listening intently the whole time, had a look of disgust on her face and her eyes wide as she finally understood the dirty meaning behind his words. With that, she pulled away, this time succeeding when he let go of her.

She scooted as far as she could from his, her back now against the door as she yelled indignantly (though not too loud because she didn't want Shiori to hear). "Y-you pervert! How dare you!"

He chuckled. "Relax, Botan. I'm just joking."

"If that's your idea of a joke, then you're going to have a lot-"

"Oh sorry, I thought you liked those kind of jokes. I mean, you _are_ the one who went into my bedroom to try and watch me bath, right?"

Botan let out a disgusted sound. "I didn't meant to. It was an accident!"

The smirk on his face widened as he stared back at her with a mocking face. Ignoring what she just said, he sarcastically retorted. "Oh, yeah, thanks for the view anyway."

Botan frowned at this. "What view?"

Shuichi arched an eyebrow at her before turning around and walking to his bed as he said over his shoulder. "When you first came in. You were on the floor, remember? You had your legs spread _wide _for me."

The girl blinked at him, a look of lost on her fast before her eyes widened knowingly. "You jerk!"

"Hey, that wasn't my fault, honey."

At that precise moment, she realized a book that was sitting closely to her feet and a smirk appeared on her face. Glaring at Shuichi's back, she grabbed the book and threw it as hard as she could and once again (because Shuichi had turned to look at her) the book hit him right in the face for the third time.

"God! I hate you!" she yelled at him before opening the door and slamming it once she was out.

* * *

><p>Shuichi gripped his head and groaned. "That idiot..."<p>

His face hurt from all the hits he had taken that day (he also got a major headache). The girl couldn't keep her hands from throwing books at him! What was her problem anyway? She started it first! God, she was annoying.

Not to mention when he teased her.

He had wanted to mock her and embarrassed her but she took it too far.

Shuichi sighed and rolled in his bed.

"Forget about getting used to her...I'll die if this keeps up..." He muttered under his breath.

Another pained groan escaped his lips.

* * *

><p>Botan muffled her angered screams in her pillow.<p>

_'Ugh! Why is he so...so...'_

She cut her own thoughts short as she heaved a heavy sigh.

Deciding she needed sleep, she closed the night lamp on the table and, closed her eyes.

The memory of what happened in Shuichi's room flashed in her mind and her faced turned red as her amethyst eyes opened again.

"Ugh! I can't sleep!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. It belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi.**

**You're Not So Bad **

**Chapter 3**

"Botan-chan? Are you awake?"

Shiori's voice was heard through the door.

The said girl rolled in her bed, a groan escaping her small lips. "Five minutes..." she mumbled, still half-asleep.

CREAK~

The door opened and revealed Shiori who had an apron on and her hair tied in a slightly messy bun. Seeing the teen was still in her bed, Shiori frowned then shook her head and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Botan-chan, you should get up. It's morning already."

Botan let another groan passed her lips before pulling the covers up to her face. Once again she mumbled, "Shiori...it's still early...let me sleep...for five more minutes..."

Shiori's frown deepened at this. Heaving a sigh, the woman walked towards the bed and pulled the covers down so she could see Botan's face. "Botan-chan," she called, shaking the younger female but the she didn't even move a muscle. "Botan-chan," Shiori called again and shook her for the second time.

This time though, the girl did respond. "Okay, okay..." she said before lifting her body up from the bed and turning to look at Shiori. A small smile was planted on the woman's lips and she watched as Botan smiled back.

"Come on, breakfast's ready. Get dressed. We're going somewhere," Shiori told her, patting her head slightly – this made Botan think for a moment that Shiori and Yukio did have another thing in common: besides their awkward way of showing affections, the two adults seemed to like patting her.

She arched an eyebrow at this. "Where are we going?"

The smile on Shiori's face widened slightly. "The park. The four of us."

Amethyst eyes blinked. "The four of us?" she echoed.

Shiori nodded. "Yes. Why?"

A giggle erupted from Botan's lips. "Are you sure you don't mean the two of you?"

It was Shiori's turn to raise her eyebrow, her eyes stared at the girl in bewilderment. "What do you mean, Botan-chan?"

"I mean, if you guys are going on the date, I don't think Shuichi and I are supposed to be there."

Shiori's confused look was replaced by an understanding expression and a fit of giggles escaped her mouth. "Oh, Botan-chan. Your father and I are not going on a date today. I just thought that maybe we should spend some family time together."

A sweatdrop formed at Botan's head. "Oh, okay..." _'I still don't think we're qualified to be called a family...'_

Deciding that she should get out of the room now, Shiori got up from the bed and walked towards the door, not forgetting to tell Botan to get ready and said, "I'll wait for you outside."

When Shiori closed the wooden door, Botan heaved a sigh, a smile appearing on her face. She got up, trudged towards her own bathroom ("Ha! I have a bathroom to myself too, Shuichi!") and took a towel before closing the bathroom door behind her.

* * *

><p>"Why don't you like girls?" Yukio asked for the umpteenth time that morning.<p>

Shuichi sweatdropped. Seriously, when was the man going to drop the subject? They had been talking about girls – Shuichi didn't really like it when Yukio had first opened the topic – for long minutes now (Shuichi felt like it had been ages though). The blue-haired man kept asking him if he had gone to any dates, if he had any crushes before and anything that involved girls for that matter.

And every time he asked, Shuichi had answer truthfully and told him matter-of-factly that,

"I'm not interested in any girls."

Which was what lead to the older male asking the same question over and over again.

"For the last time, Yukio-san, I just don't. None of them attracts me."

A deep frown was embedded on Yukio's forehead as he heard this. "None? Not even one girl?" he asked incredulously.

Shuichi shook his head.

Yukio stared at him as if he was some alien from a different planet. "There are tons of hot girls in Japan! How come you're not attracted to at least one person?"

The redhead let out a chuckle. "I agree that there are many beautiful females here but really, Yukio-san, I have never been in love with anyone. Physical attraction? Perhaps, a few times. But emotional? Not really," he replied calmly and sipped his coffee.

Then a thoughtful look crossed the man's face.

He stared at the teen for a few moments before his words finally left him. "What about my daughter?"

Shuichi almost choked on his drink for the second time since he met him.

How did this discussion about girls suddenly changed to one about _her_?

He coughed for a bit before averting his emerald eyes to the other male. Of course, Shuichi knew that Botan was a _girl_. But he did not expect that Yukio would even mention her in their conversation (his surprise was obvious by the way he almost spit tea all over his mother's favorite table). "Um...what about her?" he asked, his crimson brows furrowing slightly.

Yukio arched an eyebrow quizzically at him. "What do you think of her?"

Shuichi knew he was about to ask that question but when he thought about it, did he really know how to answer? The girl was obviously not someone he liked, heck, Shuichi prefer it better if he had nothing to do with her. And although Botan's looks were admittedly appealing, she did a great job of annoying the hell out of him the other night.

He thought of how he was supposed to reply to that before finally answering in a hesitant voice. "Botan, uh...I think she's a really interesting, funny, lively girl...and she's really nice, too..." Though what he truly wanted to say were along the lines of, "a conniving, loud-mouthed, woman who knows nothing but how to give you a major headache, and I mean major".

"So, you like her?"

Shuichi looked away for a fleeting moment. "Uh, yes. Like a friend, I guess."

Yukio ignored his last sentence, pretending not to hear it as he added, "She's single, you know."

_'So what?' _The teen thought but he was smart enough not to say what was on his mind. "I...see..." he replied slowly and took another sip of his coffee, an uninterested look in his eyes.

To Shuichi's relief, Yukio changed the topic – because he could easily tell that Shuichi was far less interested than he expected him to be (hey, he was an air-head but he wasn't that stupid to not notice the look on the redhead's face) – to a more ridiculous one (but one that Shuichi found easier to deal with than a topic about the azure-haired girl he hated so much). "I'm starting to think you like guys."

Shuichi frowned. "I'm not gay, Yukio-san."

"My dear boy, a man will only feel like he doesn't love a woman because of two reasons: either he's a zombie, or gay," he spoke calmly as if it was something normal. "So which one is it? I doubt you're a zombie so my guess is the second one."

The boy let an awkward laugh escaped his lips, and sweatdropped at the weird common sense Yukio had. "I'm neither of them."

"Really?"

"Yes, I mean it."

"Just be truthful. Don't lie to me."

"I'm not, believe me."

"I seriously don't believe you."

"Yukio-san!"

Yukio laughed.

The exasperated look on Shuichi's face was replaced by a small smile on his lips.

Despite the fact that Yukio was strange and liked to ask him weird questions, Shuichi seemed like he was really enjoying the conversation they were having.

* * *

><p>Botan was wearing a white satin halter top with a pink A-line skirt that reached her knees and t-strap sandals. And as usual, her hair was tied up in a ponytail, but this time it was braided.<p>

She spun around, her skirt flowing a bit and she giggled girlishly. Turning to look at Shiori, she asked, "How do I look?"

Shiori who had been staring at her with sparkly eyes the whole time, gushed, "Oh, Botan-chan! You look soooo cute!" As those words left her, she enveloped the girl in a bear hug, once again surprising Botan (that had been the second time she hugged her!) and she blinked.

"Shiori-san...?"

The said woman let go of her, a smile forming on her cherry lips. "Sorry. You just look so adorable. I can't help it!"

The azure-haired teen sweatdropped at this. Letting an awkward laugh escaped her own lips, she nodded slowly. "Y-yeah, okay..."

Shiori was about to open her mouth to say something else but was interrupted when Yukio's voice shouted from downstairs. "Ladies! Are you done yet? Me and Shuichi are getting tired of waiting!"

Then they heard the faint sound of Shuichi's voice saying something that sounded like, "Yukio-san...they're women so, this kind of thing is normal for them..."

"I know that, but I can't wait forever, you know?"

Laughing slightly, Shiori shouted back. "We'll be down in a sec!"

With that said, she grabbed Botan's hand in hers and pulled her along as they walked down the stairs.

* * *

><p>"Wow," Yukio said in amazement. "You girls sure took a long time but I guess it's worth the wait since you look so beautiful."<p>

His dark purple eyes stared at both females in awe, though he stared at Botan longer (he had never seen her look so good before). He wondered for a moment, why on earth that he, someone who had lived with her for fifteen years, had never noticed that his daughter could even be so...appealing.

He guessed that maybe because they rarely spent any time together going outdoors – he had never been interested in going out of the house until he met Shiori. Of course, Botan did went out on more than a few occasions, maybe almost every day if he counted, but he never really did bother to care about her appearance then.

So, seeing her like this was pretty surprising, in a good way.

His lips tugged into a smile. _'You're just like your mother...'  
><em>

Remembering his old wife, who had die in a car crash when Botan was only six, he shook his head. Trying to forget the painful memories. He had Shiori now and he was happy with that.

Speaking of Shiori – he averted his gaze to her –, she looked as beautiful as she always did.

"Especially you, my beloved," he seductively added, holding Shiori's hand in his and kissing it, his eyes on her face as she giggled. "Thank you."

Botan, who had watched the scene, looked away with a sweatdrop forming on her head. Did they always have to act like that? It wasn't like she didn't want her dad to get romantic with his own lover but the thought of seeing their lovey-dovey scenes every day for the rest of her life – or at least, until Yukio decide to move out (Of course, they weren't going anywhere. Botan was just thinking of the possibility, though she doubted it would happen any sooner) – was not comfortable for her.

Shuichi, on the other hand, didn't even took notice of the couple. Instead, his emerald eyes were focused on the teen girl in front of him.

And even though he didn't like the girl that much, Shuichi couldn't deny the fact that Botan DID look alluring.

He shook his head; deciding not to waste anymore of his precious braincells thinking about her (that was how he called it anyway) and coughed slightly, gaining the other three's attentions as they turned their heads to him.

"We should get going."

* * *

><p>"I can't believe that I'm here, alone with you of all people!" Botan waved her arms exasperatedly in the air.<p>

The two teenagers were now together at the park, sitting on a bench and staring at other people who seemed to enjoy their time there.

The only problem was,

the adults were nowhere to be found.

Shuchi rolled his eyes. "So you think I like this situation? I sure as hell don't," he said, an irritated expression on his charming features.

You see, Botan, Shuichi and the two love birds had been walking around the almost impossibly crowded park. They had been taken by surprise when they saw the hundreds of people there. Sure, they did expect that a lot of people were going to the park, in the first place but they obviously didn't predict that it would be THAT many. And somewhere along the time they had been wandering around the four of them had accidentally got separated from each other.

And Botan had ended up with Shuichi.

At first they had wonder where the other two had gone to – they even tried looking for them but failed miserably since there were too many people at the park –, but something told them that Shiori and Yukio were together so the two teens weren't really worried that much.

But unfortunately for either of them, the bad thing was that they were forced to be alone with their arch-enemy.

"I hate this more than you do," Botan retorted.

That made Shuichi scoffed, "I doubt that, Botan. I hate you more than you hate me, so that means I hate this more than _you _do."

The said girl shot a glare at him. "How would you know that? And don't call me Botan."

A smirk tugged at his lips. Ignoring her first question, Shuichi mocked her, "So what should I call you? Idiot?"

Botan's face turned red in anger. "Why do you have to be such a jerk?"

"Why do you have to be so annoying?" he shot back.

"Why are you so evil?"

"Why don't you have a brain?"

"Do you have to be so arrogant?"

"Do you have to ask so many stupid questions?"

They glared at each other before looking away with a "hmph".

Both of them then decided not to say anything else, so that they could prevent another mouth-war from happening between them again.

Shuichi mentally groaned. Why was he stuck with _her _of all people? If he had known this would've happen, then he wouldn't have agreed with his mother suggestion to go to the park in the first place. But what's happened, happened so he could do nothing about it. That didn't stop Shuichi from thinking: seriously, did Botan had to be _so _infuriating? Why couldn't she just keep her mouth shut? She was giving him a hard time already.

Botan, on the other hand, was also thinking of the same thinking. For a moment, she had even begin to miss Yukio and Shiori. Why did fate had to leave her with an arrogant, perverted asshole anyway?! She couldn't even be around him for a second, as they would always fight and he would always end up making her angry. Well, it wasn't her fault. Did Shuichi had to be so mocking? Jeez...

They sat there in silence, trying to avoid their gaze from the other.

After a while, Botan got bored of staring at strangers and turned her head to him to look at his face. She was about to say something but cut herself off as she took in his appearance. Shuichi was wearing a dark red long-sleeved, turtle-neck shirt (it wasn't as red as his hair was) and black pants along with a pair of men's sneakers. Not to mention, the redhead also had his fingers in his crimson hair, a light sigh escaping his lips and Botan couldn't help but notice how hot he looked.

She didn't realize it before because she hadn't bother to look at him in the first place and even if she did avert her eyes to him, it would always be to his face.

And now she was slowly regretting the decision to stare at him as he glanced at her for a moment and his lips instantly curved up into a light smirk.

Her brows furrowing, Botan blinked at him. What now?

The smirk lingered at the corner of his mouth. "Eat your eyes out, honey," Shuichi said, his voice seductive and he gave her a wink.

Botan gawked at him. "Wh-what-"

The words were cut off as she suddenly noticed,

why was Shuichi sitting so close to her?

The boy had his arm wrapped around her shoulder and Botan could almost feel his hot breath against her skin. Her amethyst eyes were as wide as saucers as she felt his hand tugged at her hair and pulled her head closer to his.

Shuichi's lips slowly went to her ear and he whispered in a low, husky voice, "Like what you see?"

Blood rushed to Botan's face when she felt he blew a hot air at her ear. Putting her hand on his chest, Botan pushed him harshly and cried indignantly. "You conceited jerk! Ugh! The nerve!"

She crossed her arms, pink tinting her cheeks as she looked away.

Shuichi blinked at her for a few seconds before he broke into a fit of laughter, clutching on his stomach and tears could clearly be seen from his eyes. "G-god, Botan...y-you're...hilarious!"

But his laughter was ended as soon as the said girl suddenly let out a piercing scream and jumped on him. Shuichi's eyes widened slightly at this and he opened his mouth to tell her to get off of him but was cut short when she began hitting him on the chest with a deep, red blush. Shuichi had to admit, her hits hurt him and not to mention, it was also annoying (and embarrassing since they were in public so people could obviously see them)!

"Ow, ow! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Botan stopped hitting him to stare incredulously at him. "What the hell's wrong with _me_, you ask? I should be asking that! What the hell is wrong with _you_!" she shot back angrily.

"Nothing's wrong with me! You're the crazy one here!"

Hearing his words, her face turned redder, though this time in anger as an irritated sound came out from her and she soon began hitting him again.

"H-hey!" Shuichi yelled, and grabbed her hands, stopping her from hitting him again and squeezed them. "Would you stop that?"

Botan scowled. "No!" she retorted and tried to pull her hands out of his grasp but he made sure that his grip on them was hard enough so she couldn't get away.

"You've lost your mind, haven't you?" he roared, narrowing his eyes at her.

Her jaw dropped. "_Me_?!" Then she pointed to herself, once again letting another annoyed noise. "You're the one who's lost their mind here, Shuichi!"

A frown was now embedded on his forehead. "What on earth do you mean by that?"

"Why did you have to go and do that! In front of people we don't know!"

He arched an eyebrow at her. "So you mean to say to me that you wouldn't mind if I do that again if it's not in public?" Shuichi sarcastically said, even though he already knew what she actually meant.

The scowl on her lips deepened slightly. "You know that's not what I meant! Stop pretending like you don't, you jerk!"

"Idiot," Shuichi muttered under his breath and rolled his eyes. Then turned to look at her with an exasperated expression on his features, letting go of her hands. "I was just teasing you! Can't you take a little tease now and then? For God's sake, woman! You're so darn annoying and why do you always have to be so loud anyway? Plus, _you_'re the one making a scene here!"

It didn't take long for Botan to give him a hard slap at the face.

* * *

><p>"Ne, sweetheart..." Shiori said slowly, concern written all over her face.<p>

Yukio turned to look at her. "What is it?"

"Are you sure Shuichi and Botan-chan will be okay?" she asked him.

He smiled softly at her before wrapping his arm around her waist. "Don't worry," Yukio said.

"But-"

She was cut off when he planted a small kiss on her forehead. "Darling, trust me, don't worry," he reassured her. "They're old enough to take care of themselves."

The smile on his face widened and he stared at her, a confident tone in his voice as he said,

"Plus, I'm sure they're getting along just fine."

* * *

><p>Botan was not getting along with Shuichi.<p>

The said boy had pushed her off of him rather roughly, causing Botan to fall onto the ground. She had once again yell angrily at him that time but he ignored her completely and had begun to walk away. Seeing this, she had immediately followed him (because she didn't want to be left alone by herself).

And now they were having a fight over ice-cream. Ice cream, of all things!

"Didn't I tell you loud and clear that I want strawberry? Or are you deaf?!"

Shuichi heaved a heavy sigh. "I'm going to be if you keep yelling at me!"

"I'm yelling because you keep pissing me off!"

"Will you stop shouting?"

"No!"

You see, they had passed by an ice-cream shop. Shuichi had asked her if she wanted any ice-cream and she had told him yes. Botan had even ask him (she mumbled her request but she thought he had heard her) to buy her strawberry-flavored ice-cream but he had accidentally bought vanilla, which caused Botan to throw another tantrum.

"Listen, vanilla's tasty too, you know."

"I know that," she paused before puffing her cheeks and stubbornly adding, "but I still want strawberry."

Shuichi once again sighed, before taking a scoop from his glass of chocolate ice-cream. "I made a mistake, okay?"

"Who would mistaken 'strawberry' for 'vanilla' anyway? I didn't think that was possible."

A vein visibly popped at Shuichi's head and his eyes twitched. "This is your own fault. Loud and clear, you say? Ha! I barely heard you."

"That's because you're deaf."

"That's because you're always screaming."

"That's because you're always making me angry."

"That's because you're too sensitive."

When Botan was unresponsive, Shuichi lifted his head from his glass to glance at her and saw her lazily scooping her ice-cream, before putting it back into the glass and repeating the process again.

Shuichi watched her for a few moments before letting another sigh escape his lips. "Look, I said I am sorry okay?"

A nod was her response. "Okay," she said, not even looking at him.

He frowned at this and shook his head at her childish behavior. "Botan, it's just ice-cream."

This time she did look at him. "I said okay."

The redhead rolled his eyes. "Not convincing."

"Fine. Whatever," the girl said coolly but the scowl on her face was pretty obvious.

"Botan, I even paid for it..."

"I didn't ask you to."

"I wanted to."

"Why?"

"Because I want to be nice to and treat you with something you like, is that a crime?"

"...How would you know if I like ice-cream or not?"

Shuichi stared nonchalantly at Botan's equally nonchalant face and started, "Please, Botan, I saw your face when you had your eyes on this store even if it was just for a second and I could easily tell you like ice-cream. And vanilla isn't so bad, so eat that now before it melts and before you can regret not doing so."

Botan stared back at him for a while before turning her attention slowly to the ice-cream. The spoon that never left her hand was brought to the glass and she scooped her ice-cream, putting it in her mouth and swallowing it. Looking back at Shuichi, she said, "Is this good of yours going to last long? Or you'll revert back to the devil after this?"

His lips pulled up into a grin at her words. Shrugging his shoulders, he replied, "Who knows."

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him, watching him for a second before rolling her eyes. "Shuichi, I swear, if you're going to make me do something ridiculous in exchange for this then I will totally tazer you for real," she threatened, sending death glares flying towards him before taking another scoop.

An unexpected laugh. "Why would I make you do something ridiculous, Botan?"

"I don't know." She then pointed her spoon accusingly at him. "I can't trust you."

Shaking his head, Shuichi laughed again before asking, "Besides that, will you really tazer me?"

Looking up from her ice-cream, she smiled at him. "No, not really."

He smiled back. "You're weird, you know that?"

"I know," she jokingly said. "Anyway, I'm really enjoying this treat. Thanks."

And once again he laughed, but this time it had sounded a bit strange...it sounded more like an evil laugh. This gained Botan's attention and she looked at him with wide-eyes.

His lips pulled up into a smirk. "Too bad you won't be enjoying it soon."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile...<p>

Shiori and Yukio were really enjoying a romantic picnic under a tree.

"I wonder what they're doing right now..." Shiori mumbled.

Yukio blinked at her. "'They' who?"

A pout. "Sweetheart! I meant, Shuichi and Botan-chan.

He scratched the back of his head, a sheepish grin on his face. "Yeah, yeah...I knew that..."

She stared at him for a second before shaking her head, a giggle coming out from her lips. "You're really hopeless..."

His grin widened. "But you still love me, right, darling?"

Shiori stopped giggling, and lifted her head to look at him only to blush when she was greeted by the sight of Yukio grinning mischievously at her.

"Right."

* * *

><p>Botan had entirely forgotten how good it was going at the ice-cream shop...<p>

...because now Shuichi had completely ruined that.

"Oh, come on, Botan, don't be mad," he mocked her, spinning the spoon in front of her face.

"I can't believe I even thought you were actually nice, Shuichi!" Her face was now covered in chocolate ice-cream because he had, apparently, suddenly decided to throw his ice-cream at her poor face. Not once but multiple times already!

"Aww," he faked a girlish noise. "Is little Botan angry?"

The mockingly sweet tone in his voice added more fuel to her already irked state of mind. "Are you on drugs?! Or are you a drug dealer?!" She scooped her ice-cream and threw it back at him. "Cause I think you need to get your head straight!"

"I'm fine, Botan," he sneered at her, not even trying to dodge as the ice-cream landed right at his left cheek and slowly traveled down to his lips. He licked them. "Umm~Yummy!"

His response was not what she wanted, so this was causing Botan to get more irritated – she wanted to make him angry! – and to throw another scoop at his face. This time it landed right on his nose, causing it to almost enter his nose but he was quick enough to wipe it off of his face with his arm and believe it or not, Shuichi DID NOT seem pleased.

He shot a glare at her and she shot one back at him. "And here I thought we were finally getting along! I can't believe you're throwing ice-cream at me in the face where a lot of people are watching!"

He rolled his eyes. "Please," he scorned. "I only did this so I can get back at you for giving me a major headache last night!"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" she incredulously asked as if she didn't know what he meant.

"In case you have forgotten, I'll remind you, you were throwing my poor books at me, remember? And I'll tell you something, _fucking_ congratulations to you 'cause it hurt like hell." He picked his glass of ice-cream up and threw it all over her face, causing some of it to get stuck to her hair and her clothes.

Botan's jaw dropped. Then she noticed for a moment that every one there was giving her weird looks (of course, some of the looks were directed to Shuichi but most of them were to her). Once again she sent a death glare at the redhead. "So you decided to get your petty revenge by embarrassing me in front of all these people?"

Shuichi sneered. "It's great that you're finally understanding all this, Botan."

"You already embarrassed me earlier today at the bench! What more do you want?"

"For your information, you did that to yourself. You were the one who tackled me, don't you remember that?"

"And you were the one who was whispering and getting too close to me in public in the first place! You remember that?"

"In case you don't know yet, close proximity, hugging or even kissing for that matter, is normal in public. Many people do it. Ever heard of public display of affection?" he sarcastically countered.

"Shuichi, you spawn of Satan-"

She was cut off. "Save your words for later, sweetie. You're making more than enough noise already."

The girl gaped at his words. "You! I am going to-"

"Ah! Is that Shuichi-kun?" A squeal was heard.

Both teenagers turned their heads to the direction of the voice and was greeted by the sight of a couple of girls. One who had long, curly brown hair, while the other one had short, straight blue hair and they were both drooling over...

Botan's eyes turned to look at Shuichi, who now had a pale look on his face.

_...Shuichi._

"Um...Shuichi...who are they...?" she asked slowly.

The boy didn't answer though.

The only word escaping his lips was,

"Shit."

All of the sudden, he grabbed her by the wrist and started to drag a shocked Botan from the ice-cream shop.

With a couple of Shuichi's fangirls running after them.

* * *

><p>Yukio and Shiori strolled along the park with their hands entwined together.<p>

"Sweetheart," she called.

The blue-haired man averted his gaze to his lover. "Yes, darling?"

"I think we should go look for Shuichi and Botan-chan now, right?"

He thought for a moment.

"Yeah."

* * *

><p>Shuichi and Botan panted, their legs quivering slightly from running so much.<p>

Botan then looked at the redhead, a vein popping at her head.

The girl opened her mouth, ready to yell at him but was silenced when he placed his hands on her lips, causing her voice to come out a little muffled. With his free hand, Shuichi raised a finger to his own lips. "Shh..."

Botan frowned and was about to pull his hand away only to blink when he suddenly pulled away his hand and stared at his right with an exasperated look. She followed his eyes and almost screamed when she saw the two girls that were chasing them.

"Geez~ Shuichi-kun! Why are you running away from us?" the first (the one with the curly brown hair) girl said, a small pout on her lips.

"We only want to talk to you!" the second one said.

Botan sweatdropped. Who were those girls? Shuichi's secret admirers or something? She glanced at the said male at the corner of her eyes. Though Shuichi seemed far less than pleased by their affections.

Instead of the earlier pale look he had, he had an annoyed one plastered on his face. But that irritated expression of his soon changed to a thoughtful one and Botan could only blink in confusion.

What was Shuichi thinking? She pondered to herself for a moment. And how was he able to switch from one look to another look so quickly anyway?

Her thoughts were cut short though, as she caught Shuichi glancing at her with a smirk on his lips. And although it was just a fraction of a second, Botan was sure that she saw it. But the only problem was, why the hell did he look at her like that? Did he had something in mind? What was in his head? What-

Her eyes widened as soft lips suddenly pressed themselves against hers.

Then she heard the two girls gasped in horror.

She felt his hand held her head gently for a moment and his fingers entangled themselves in the silky azure locks before an arm came to wrap around her waist. He then pulled her closer to him, deepening the kiss slightly.

After a few seconds, he finally pulled away (Botan's eyes were still wide, and it was obvious that she was still surprised by the kiss) and Botan saw his eyes sparkled mischievously before the pools of emerald focused on the girls in front of them.

"Let me introduce you to Botan," he paused, the smirk on his face widening as he added, "my girlfriend."

"EH?!"

Two screams were heard through the park.

Meanwhile, Botan's head was shouting the same thing. _'Eh?! Girlfriend?"_

The two girls watched them with looks of mixed sorrow and horror on their faces before tears finally came out of their eyes. "I-I can't believe this!" As those words left their lips in a shaky way, they dramatically fled from the park. The sadness of their beloved Shuichi already having a girlfriend was too overwhelming for them to bear.

Silence crept between the two teenagers for a while before Botan decided to broke it off with an angry yell. "What the hell was that for?!"

He grinned at her. "Sorry. I needed to get rid of them so I thought maybe if I told them you're my girlfriend, they would leave me alone," Shuichi explained.

Botan grimaced. "Or maybe they'll get mad at me."

His grin got bigger. "Don't worry, you'll probably never meet them again."

"And what if I do?" she countered.

He decided not to reply to that.

The two was silent for a few moments before once again Botan spoke, "I still can't believe you kissed me."

He arched an eyebrow at her, before an all too familiar smirk to Botan appeared on his face. "Why? Did you like it?"

She stared at him in disgust. "Shuichi!"

The said male ignored the infuriated way she had yell his name out and seductively added, "Cause I did." Then his eyes went over to her lips to emphasize his point.

Seconds after, a loud slap was heard.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. It belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi.**

**You're Not So Bad**

**Chapter 4**

"Since when have you guys been dating?"

Shiori and Botan were now in the latter's bedroom with the former sitting on the bed beside her, and had somewhat gotten into a conversation about Botan's 'relationship' with a certain redhead.

Botan sighed exasperatedly, her amethyst eyes twitching slightly and she denied, "We're not dating, Shiori."

But Shiori didn't seem to hear what she said – or maybe the woman chose to ignore it – as she continued. "You could've tell me that you two were seeing each other. There's no need to keep it a secret."

The younger female slapped her forehead. "For the last time, we are _not_ dating," she repeated, slightly emphasizing her sentence.

Once again the woman ignored her sentence. "If your dad and I get married soon, then you guys can still go out. I mean, you'd only be step siblings, you're not really blood related, so dating isn't wrong," Shiori explained, her hands grabbing Botan's before a squeal escaped her lips. "Ah~! Just imagine how our life would be, Botan-chan."

A sweatdrop formed at the back of Botan's head. "Shuichi and I are not an item. You're just misunderstanding the whole situation here," she said truthfully.

Her words were unheeded for the third time as Shiori got up from the bed, and danced herself out of the room. "Trust me, Botan-chan. I don't mind you being Shuichi's girlfriend. I'm happy even! So, so happy," she gushed excitedly and her joy was obvious by the way she had just twirled around.

Botan inwardly sighed, deciding not to say anything else; already knowing that the woman was clearly not listening to her. She just watched as Shiori bounced at the door for a few times before finally letting out a giggle. "Well then, Botan-chan, I'm going out with your dad. He-he!" She put her hand on the doorknob as she turned to look at the azure-haired girl and gave her a wink. "And remember, take good care of Shuichi for me!" With that said, she closed the door and Botan could practically hear the sound of Shiori giggling and jumping outside of her room before the sound of footsteps soon followed.

Heaving another sigh, Botan flopped down to the bed and stared at the ceiling for a while, an annoyed look in her eyes as a thought occurred to her:

_'This is unbelievable...'_

Now, you'd be wondering why Shiori was suddenly asking Botan these weird questions. Well, you see, what happened was...

_Shuichi was sitting on the ground, a hand grabbing his red cheek as he shouted angrily at the fuming girl standing in front of him. "Why did you do that for?!"_

_Botan, who had her hands clenched in small fists, yelled back. "You started it!"_

_A frown came to rest on Shuichi's forehead. "What are you talking about?" he asked her incredulously. _

_Her jaws dropped. "What am I talking about? What am _I_ talking about?!" she repeated his question twice, except her voice was getting higher at each time those words passed her lips. Turning around with an exasperated yell before looking back at him with a glare, Botan roared. "Let me tell you what I'm talking about, Shuichi! I'm talking about that KISS!" A blush was now adorning her cheeks but it was gone as fast as it had appeared and the death glare was now back._

_He raised an eyebrow questioningly at her. "Are you upset because of _that_?"_

_She rolled her eyes. Wasn't that obvious already? "No, Shuichi, I'm not angry because of that, ha-ha, in fact, I'm pretty pleased by it really," Botan sarcastically said before letting out an enraged scream. "Of course I'm fucking pissed off because of the kiss, you jerk! Can't you see that?!" she shouted at him._

_Shuichi sighed. "Seriously, I don't think you need to be that sarcastic," he told her._

_The girl scowled at his words. "Are you telling me you're not sarcastic yourself? What a hypocrite," she criticized.  
><em>

_Shuichi pretended not to hear that and decided to change the topic. "Why are you so darn furious over something like that? It's no big deal," he said calmly as if it didn't matter that much to him._

_Unfortunately, it mattered a lot to Botan. A LOT. "No big deal?" She gawked at him. The guy was so freaking emotionless! How could he not care about it? Botan could tell that Shuichi didn't have a shred of regret or care about the kiss. It was written all over his charming face that he seriously didn't give a shit about it. "Maybe it's 'no big deal' to you, Shuichi. But it's a big deal to me!" Botan retorted._

_The said boy stared at her with a skeptical expression. "Are you serious?"_

_"What's that supposed to mean?" A frown was now embedded on Botan's forehead._

_Getting up from the ground – Shuichi hadn't realized that he was still on the hard surface because he was more preoccupied in Botan's constant shouting –, he answered her, "I can't believe you're getting so angry because of a little kiss."  
><em>

_The confused look on Botan's face was soon replaced by an infuriated expression. "For your information, that was my first kiss, smart ass!"_

_Once again he arched an eyebrow at her. "And I'm supposed to care because...?"_

_An exasperated noise came from the azure-haired teen. "You're supposed to care _because _you just stole my first kiss!"_

_"Oh, please," Shuichi snorted. "Don't be such a drama queen, Botan."_

_"I'm not being a drama queen!"  
><em>

_"Yes, you are."_

_"No, I'm not!"_

_Shuichi resisted the urge to say "Yes, you are" again to prevent the two of them from saying the same things for the second time, and rolled his eyes. "It's just a kiss, Botan. It's not significant."_

_A look of shock crossed Botan's face at his words and the nonchalant way he had said it but the surprise died down quickly as she fumed and raised her arms in the air exasperatedly, a piercing scream erupting from her lips._

_Shuichi's brows furrowed, his emerald eyes in a pool of bewilderment and he opened his mouth to speak. "What-"_

_His sentence was cut short as Botan suddenly tackled him to the ground, taking him by surprise. And it didn't take Shuichi a long time for him to notice that Botan was sitting on him and that he could practically feel her soft hips pressing against his pants. Then Shuichi thought, if he wasn't wearing anything, her hips would've been touching his bare skin...  
><em>

_He inwardly shook his head to try shaking the thoughts out of his head, a blush creeping up to his face at the dirty things that he had almost conjured up in his mind, but that blush soon disappeared as-_

_PANG!_

_-he was once again greeted by a hard slap to his face._

_Shuichi's emerald eyes narrowed at the girl above him. "Will you stop slapping me? It's bad enough that you cause me a serious case of dizziness last night, now you're trying to kill me by slapping me to death," he scorned._

_"Ha-ha, very funny." Botan let out a sarcastic laugh. "I never knew that slapping could actually murder someone. Maybe I should slap you more, huh? Then you'd be dead and out of my life!" she shouted and was about to raise her hand but he grabbed both of her wrists before she could even do anything else._

_"Let me go!" Botan demanded._

_Shuichi ignored her order and smirked. "Trust me, Botan. I'm more than happy to get out of your life. It'll save me the possibility of getting my ears damaged from all the annoying noise you keep making. But I don't think I want to die by the hands of a noisy, crazy, maddening woman like you," he countered._

_"What did you call me?!"_

_"You heard me."_

_"How dare you!"_

_He laughed._

_That made her angrier but remembering the reason why she had even jumped on him in the first place, she decided to forget about the names he gave her and scowled at Shuichi. "I can't believe you told me that the kiss wasn't 'significant'."  
><em>

_Shuichi blinked at her for a few moments, a frown on his face before heaving a heavy sigh. "I can't believe you, either. Why is it so important to you anyway? IT'S JUST A KISS. Get over it."_

_Botan's scowl deepened. "I'm a girl, Shuichi. I can't just 'get over' a kiss so, excuse me. You know how girls would always dream of giving their kiss to the guy of their dreams? Well, FYI, I'm just like that. I want my first kiss to be with someone I'm madly and deeply in love with not some guy I literally despise. I want my first kiss to be with someone other than YOU." _

_Silence crept between them after that._

_But it was soon broke off by an ear-splitting shriek._

_Turning their heads to look at the source of the nearly deafening sound but was greeted by the sight of two all too familiar adults who had their eyes wide and was now staring at them._

_It took a moment for the two teenagers to finally realize that they were still on the ground, and Botan and Shuichi blushed _–_ Botan's face was redder than Shuichi's was though_. Botan swiftly got off of Shuichi as the redhead pulled himself away from the ground, now standing up and the two of them stared back at Yukio and Shiori.__

__"M-mother, I can explain this..." Shuichi started. "You see..."__

__He trailed off.__

__Was that a look of utter glee on his beloved mother's face?__

__...Was Shiori actually happy about seeing the teens in a rather inappropriate position?__

__The thought irked him.__

__And it also bothered Botan who had noticed this, too.__

__But Shuichi and Botan could only watch in horror as Yukio's lips suddenly pulled up into an ear-to-ear grin. __

__"Well, this is just fantastic!"__

__Yes, Shiori and Yukio were obviously pleased of this 'discovery'.__

Botan sighed at the memory.

And well, let's just say, the two were bombarded with uncomfortable questions that they'd rather not give any answers to, the whole time after the unfortunate event...

She still couldn't believe that Shiori and Yukio would even be happy with the so-called news – not that it was true though – and you could imagine how frustrated Botan was when the two wouldn't listen to Shuichi and Botan no matter how much they kept telling the two that they were NOT dating – and Botan didn't think that they'd be sooner or later.

She rolled her eyes.

How could they even think that she and the redhead were going out with each other?! The thought was just repulsive! And not to mention they were pretty much thrilled by it...what had gone into their heads really? Botan wouldn't be his girlfriend even if he was the last male on earth! Seriously, Shuichi? Of all people, _Shuichi_? Botan groaned exasperatedly. Then...

Realizing something else, the girl immediately removed herself from the bed and peered at the wooden door to her bedroom with slightly widened amethyst eyes as a thought occurred to her:

Did Shiori just say that she and her dad were going somewhere?

She paled as another thought came to her,

that meant that she and Shuichi were actually alone in the house!

Her mind screamed. '_NOOOOOOOOOO!'_

Botan stared at the door for what seemed like ages, contemplating if she should go downstairs or just stay in her room. Oh, she loved her room, very much really, but the thought of sitting there, on the bed, for the whole day...well, she didn't like the idea. But then again, she thought to herself, being in the same room with Shuichi was worse than being alone in her room with nothing to do.

It was far, far worse.

Then another thought crossed her mind, what if Shuichi wasn't downstairs? Maybe he was still in his room studying like he'd usually do. Maybe he was lying there in the bed with a book in his hand and his eyes glued to every page. Yes, that was also a possibility.

Botan pondered what to do before she finally decided to go downstairs – since she'd pretty much get bored soon and plus, there was also a chance of Shuichi being in his room instead of downstairs – and got up from the bed, walking towards the door and stepping outside before closing the wooden door behind her.

As soon as she was out of her room, she saw the door to Shuichi's bedroom (which was coincidentally in front of hers) slightly wide open, which meant that Shuichi wasn't in there – because if he was, he would've close the door like he'd normally do – and Botan made a move to go back into hers but she was stopped in her tracks when she suddenly became aware of the fact that the living room downstairs was quiet. No sound whatsoever was heard.

And Botan knew, although Shuichi was a bookworm and would prefer it better if the situation was silent, he'd probably be watching the TV now, flipping through channels and channels, over and over again. But she heard nothing. Had he gone out or something?

She wondered for a moment if she should check if he was there or not, and decided to go with the first choice: go downstairs and see if Shuichi was there. She then walked down the stairs, and sauntered to the living room.

Upon entering, she realized that her suspicions was correct after all; Shuichi wasn't in the house. For a few seconds, she was curious to where he had gone to but that curiosity soon died down. It didn't really matter that much to her. She didn't care about him. He could do anything he wanted and she wouldn't even mind.

Squealing, she skipped to the television, taking a seat on the soft, comfortable couch and grabbing the remote.

Whatever, Shuichi could go anywhere he want, and never come home – well, at least until Shiori and Yukio gets back from their date.

Because now, Botan had the entire house to herself!

* * *

><p>"Hey, Shuichi."<p>

The said boy averted his gaze to the boy with brown eyes and gelled black hair, who was staring at Shuichi with a weird look as if he was brainwashed or, something. There were also other two males there of course, one with gravity-defying hair and sharp crimson ears and the other one with orange hair and a very tall figure.

"Yes, Yusuke? What is it?" he asked politely.

"What are you doing outside?" Yusuke inquired, his brows furrowing slightly.

Shuichi's expression changed to one that matched Yusuke's, a frown making its way to his face as he stared back at the other boy. "What do you mean? Am I not allowed to be strolling around the city with my three best friends?" Shuichi asked him back.

"No, that's not what I'm trying to ask you here." A pause. "Just...it's a bit weird to see you out of that house. Not weird in a bad way, in a good way, I guess."

An understanding look crossed Shuichi's face. It was true that he'd rarely go out of the house. He'd always prefer to stay there, studying, and reading his books than going out, walking around with his friends. Oh, don't get him wrong. He was fond of his friends. Very. But, let him be honest here, he'd rather be in the house than be outside where there was a lot of people and also, a lot of noise.

And he wouldn't even be there, standing there with his three closest friends, if it hadn't been because of his fear of being left alone once again with a certain annoying azure-haired girl – that was from Shuichi's point of view.

"Oh," he stopped his sentence for a moment before continuing, "I just want to let loose for a bit, you know? I've been busy with my studies for a long time now, so I thought, why not I go see you guys? That's why I'm here, Yusuke." Liar.

It wasn't that Shuichi didn't want the guys to know the truth but, really, what was he supposed to say to them? If he told them his real reason, Shuichi could guarantee that the two of them – an exception for the spiky-haired Hiei of course –, Yusuke and Kuwabara would tease him and completely get the wrong idea of the whole situation.

He couldn't just say, "_Hey, guys, I have a girl living in my house with my mother and she's the daughter of my mother's lover_".

Yeah, if he did that, it wasn't going to end well for him.

He was already aggravated by his said mother and her beloved Yukio teasing him, saying all sort of things he'd rather not listen to ("When are you and Botan getting married?", "Why did you keep this a secret?", and "It's great that you guys are dating", etc.). He could've sworn he was going crazy with their preposterous and ridiculous teasing. Him and Botan? Shuichi could laugh his head off at the thought, that would never happen! Not even in a million years!

Yusuke and Kuwabara stared at him for the longest time, it was pretty much obvious that the redhead was lying to them. For what reason, they didn't know. Oh, yes, Shuichi was a good liar – not that he'd like lying to people, but if he had to, 99% would believe his words – but Yusuke and Kuwabara weren't idiots, sure, they weren't really intelligent like Shuichi was but they were good liar detectors – especially Kuwabara. But they decided to shrug it off and played along.

Hiei, on the other hand though, didn't care that much. He was Shuichi's best friend, admittedly, and he could tell the difference between Shuichi's lies and the actual truth but, he didn't think it was a big deal. It didn't matter to him if Shuichi was lying or not. People lie, that's normal. They can't ALL tell the truth for the rest of their lives, can they? And Shuichi was no exception. Although the redhead was the most polite and nicest person Hiei had ever seen, it was a fact that Shuichi would lie to people's faces now and then. So what? It was what normal people do.

Plus, it was a good thing that Shuichi FINALLY put his mind off the books and the studying, and actually gone out to hang out with his buddies.

* * *

><p>Botan stared blankly at the TV screen.<p>

She had been watching an episode of "The Amazing World of Gumball" but had eventually got bored with the cartoon after a while. She concluded that it was because she was always watching it every day (hey, it's her favorite show!) but she knew she would inevitably got bored of it sooner or later.

And that time finally arrived.

Closing the television, Botan decided to pass the time by reading a comic book, which was conveniently sitting on the table in front of the couch. She snatched the book into her hands and slowly flipped the pages, sporting an uninterested look on her face.

Oh, who was Botan kidding? She was bored out of her mind, and the book wasn't helping her, either. She put it back to where it was and heaved a sigh. She admit, she had a low tolerance for boredom. And not to mention, she'd get bored easily with things, too. First, she'd be so obsessed with something then, some time later, she'd soon get tired of it. To set an example, Botan had been watching "The Amazing World of Gumball" for non-stop now. She had even downloaded all the episodes on the internet, and kept it safely in her laptop. It was like there was a "Gumball" marathon or, something. But now, her obsession towards the cartoon had clearly died down.

_'I've clearly wasted my time and efforts for the episodes,' _she thought, and grimaced.

Then, Botan remembered something she'd read in the internet a while ago. She couldn't recall when she had read it though. It was about astrology, if she was not mistaken. She had skimmed through the Gemini page, and had read that Geminis tend to get bored easily. She thought of how similar the description was to her personality, and a random thought occurred to her: _'I__'m a Gemini!'_

She frowned when she remembered something else. Weren't the zodiacs based on the dates of people's birth? If so, was she really a Gemini? She tried to see if she could remember when the dates were but failed as she didn't think she had even looked at the dates when she first stumbled on astrology website. Shrugging her shoulders, oh, what the heck? So what if she was a Gemini? Botan didn't care if she was an Aries, Gemini, Aquarius, Taurus, Cancer or Leo – wait, what else was there?

Oh,

did she forgot to mention that when she was bored she'd tend to think of random things?

Deciding that maybe she should do something else before she'd eventually kill her brain cells over thinking about ridiculous things, Botan removed herself from the couch and was about to go upstairs to her room when-

RING! RING! RING!

-her phone went off.

Grabbing the piece of machinery from her pocket, she opened it to see her dad's number, flashing in bright white on the screen. She clicked the "Accept" button, and put the cellphone to her ear. "What do you want?" Her tone was harsh (she tends to get a bit short-tempered when she's bored).

A voice from the other side sounded. _"Whoa...relax. Can't a father call his daughter?"_

Botan rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure. Whatever," she said nonchalantly, her gaze now fixated on the wall as if there was something interesting there.

_"Anyway, I'm just calling to see if you guys are alright."_

A frown. "Dad, I'm fine. I'm not a kid anymore, you know. I can take care of myself."

_"Really?" _he asked incredulously. Botan could already imagine the disbelieving look he must've had on his face right now.

She narrowed her eyes. "Don't push me. I'm already in a bad mood."

He laughed. _"Bad mood? Are you bored again?"_

Botan scowled. "Yes, I'm freaking bored here, dad. I'm _practically_ dying of boredom right now. I'm bored, bored, bored, I'm fucking bored. Oh, and did I mention, _I'm bored_?" she sarcastically shot back. Did he really have to ask? He should know her better than anyone did.

_"Hey, calm down. No need for the sarcasm. I'm only asking."_

"Don't ask questions you already know the answers to, or you'll piss some people off."

_"Yeah, and one of those "some" people is you in a bad mood."_

Her scowl deepened. "Dad," she said warningly.

Another laugh was heard on the other side. And Yukio had obviously ignored her warning. _"What about "Gumball'? Aren't you a fan of that show? Are or you bored of it already?"_

One of her eyes twitched. "Yes, I've grown tired of my ex favorite cartoon. Now will you stop pushing my buttons?" She didn't like it that he was pretending not to know. Botan knew that Yukio was aware that if she wasn't sick of the show, she wouldn't be bored in the first place. For God's sake already, you stupid old man, stop trying to tick her off!

_"How am I supposed to push your buttons if I'm not with you? And, since when did you like wearing buttons?" _he mocked her, and she could easily tell that he was faking innocence.

"Don't pretend like you don't know what I mean, you moron."

_"Okay, okay. Don't be so mad, I'm just joking around with you. Anyway, Shiori wants to know if you and Shuichi aren't doing anything we wouldn't do."_

Botan made a face. "That's unlikely to happen. And Shuichi's not here."

_"What do you mean? Aren't you guys dating? Where is Shuichi?"_

"No, we're not, dad. How many times have I told you that? And I don't know where he is."

_"I don't believe you. You're always in denial."_ Yukio had somehow stopped asking about the redhead's whereabouts.

"When am I ever in denial?" she denied.

_"See! That's denial!"_

Sigh. "Okay. Maybe, sometimes, I am in denial."

_"It's not "maybe" when it's true."_

"Ugh, fine! Sometimes, I am in denial. Happy?"

Once again Yukio laughed.

"But, I'm not denying anything this time, dad. I'm not Shuichi's girlfriend, okay? I'm not going to repeat myself. I repeat, I'm not going to repeat myself. I am not his girlfriend."

_"You just did. Twice."_

Realizing that she had repeated the same sentences, when she had told Yukio herself that she wasn't supposed to, Botan mumbled curses under her breath. "Whatever."

_"Idiot."_ A laugh.

"Quit it, or I'll kill you when you get back."

_"Sure, sure. Relax, Botan. You'll get old if you keep getting angry like that."_

"I won't be getting angry if you're not trying to make me angry."

She heard a sigh escape her dad's lips. _"I feel sorry for Shuichi. He's unlucky to have a woman like you."_

"Like I said before, I'm not his and I never will be."

_"A-ha! Denial, again!"_

"Will you drop it with the denial thing?!"

_"No."_

Botan wanted to bang her head to the wall. "I hate you."

_"Ha-ha, sure you do, honey. But listen to me, Botan, even if me and Shiori-"_

"Shiori and I," Botan corrected.

_"Wha-what? That's only a minor mistake!"_

"You still got it wrong."

_"Geez, you're really touchy when you're in a bad mood."_

"Whatever." How many times have she said that already?

_"Anyway, like I was saying - before **someone** rudely cut me off, even if Shiori AND I do get married in the near future, which I'm sure we will, you guys can still date each other. You would only be step-siblings, after all. Not blood related or anything, right? So, it's not creepy or incest."_

Botan noticed how similar his words were to Shiori's. "I know that, dad. I'm not stupid. And I don't have to worry about it being incest or something, because I'm NOT dating Shuichi."

_"Denial."_

"Shut up."

_"And another thing, since when have you been interested in dating?"_

"I'm not."

He ignored her blunt statement. _"I can't believe how fast you can find a guy. You've only known Shuichi for a few days, but you're already seeing him."_

"Exactly! I don't know a lot about him. Why would I be dating him? Why didn't you think of that in the first place? You know me better than anyone else, heck, probably better than me even, so how could the idea of _me_ dating _him _got inside your thick head, anyway? I seriously think you're on drugs. You're not thinking with your brain. Honestly, dad, I think you should stop. STOP DAMAGING YOURSELF, DAMMIT!"

_"That's the longest sentence you've said and I'm not on drugs. Will you stop it with the drugs? You're always saying that."_

"If you're not on drugs, then you would be thinking logically."

_"Logically? Botan, dear, you never think 'logically', either."_

"Whatever, dad."

_"Is that your favorite word now? You've been saying that a lot."_

"Yes, dad. I love the word "whatever". Whatever, whatever, whatever!" She rolled her eyes.

_"Weirdo. Anyways, take care of Shuichi, okay? He is, after all, your boy-"  
><em>

Yukio didn't manage to finish his sentence as Botan hung up.

* * *

><p><em>Die! Die! Diiieeeee!<br>_

A huge evil crooked grin, sparkly murderous eyes, the bloodlust on Shuichi's face could clearly be seen as his left hand moved the joystick with brute force and his right fingers pushed the control buttons with all his fuming strength on a Tekken machine inside an arcade. He was brutally killing his 14th computerized opponent, taking his frustration – his frustration since Botan moved in – all on him.

_Kick. Punch. Superpowers. Scooooooore! Diiiieee!_

Hiei, Yusuke, and Kuwabara watched him with wide eyes, their jaws dropped – except for Hiei. Was _that_ really Shuichi?! Since when had...the sweet, polite, kind-hearted Shuichi become a blood lusting monster?! The trio were surprised – too surprise even – but even though they were shocked to see him like this for the first time, they couldn't help but look at the redhead with utter amazement written all over their faces. The way Shuichi was knocking his opponents down in the machine was highly astounding.

"You're pretty good at this," Hiei commented. Then there was a pause before he added, "I never knew you had it in you."

"What do you mean by 'it'?" Shuichi inquired, without looking back at them and for a moment, the three of them thought how strange it was to see him talk in a composed tone when he was literally taking all his violence on the machine.

Hiei stared at the machine for a few seconds before glancing back at Shuichi. "Blood lust."

At the exact moment Hiei had said that, something impossible had happened; Shuichi had defeated the ultimate boss of the bosses in the game. The guys couldn't believe their eyes when they saw this but what they couldn't believe even more, was when Shuichi leaned back on the chair, and turned his head to look at them with an evil, sadistic smile on his usually calm features. They could only think of one thing then:

Where had the Shuichi they know disappeared to?

* * *

><p>Botan opened the refrigerator, taking a jug water and a glass, and glanced at the clock hanging on the wall.<p>

_8:15 p.m._

Sighing, she wondered for a moment when Shuichi would come home. Where was he really? How long did he plan to go out? Botan suspected he had left the house because he wanted to avoid being with her. But seriously, did he have to take it _that_ long? Besides him, Yukio and Shiori also hadn't come back from their date, but Botan didn't worry that much. Even before she and her dad had moved in, their dates would always be very, very long so she had expected them to be home late.

The problem was, where was Shuichi?

Not that she liked him or anything, but that didn't stop her from being worry.

Another sigh.

Botan poured the water in the glass, and thought, maybe Shuichi was on his way already. Yes, maybe he was. Turning around to put her glass on the kitchen counter, Botan turned again to close the refrigerator.

Not noticing that Shuichi had already arrived home and was now walking to the kitchen. He was thirsty. He didn't have the time to buy any drinks when he was out, because he and his friends had apparently been at the arcade the whole day. Well, the other three just watched him vent his anger and frustration on the poor, unfortunate machines there. He was so exhausted he didn't think he could walk any further and was about to cancel his intentions of getting a drink when he saw a glass of water on the counter

Shuichi didn't acknowledge Botan, who was about to turn around, and grabbed the glass, putting it to his lips and swallowing all its contents.

The azure-haired girl, who had been taken by surprise when she saw Shuichi, could only watch with jaws dropped as Shuichi devoured her precious water. Her precious, precious water...

Botan shot a death glare at him. "Shuichi!"

"Hm?" Shuichi frowned at her. Botan could see that he was tired by the way his eyes were half-lidded and the drowsy way he had responded to her but that didn't stop her from shouting loudly as she could, "That was mine!"

Shuichi's frown deepened, he could've sworn that her voice were so loud that his eardrums almost bleed. But really? The girl was mad at him for one fucking glass of water? What the hell was wrong with her? Nonetheless, he shot back, "This is my house so I can do anything I want."

"But, you can't just steal my water!"

"It's not yours."

"What's that supposed to mean?! I poured it into the damn glass!"

"Like I said, this is my house and everything in it belongs to me."

Botan gave him a dirty look. "That doesn't make sense."

Shuichi rolled his eyes. "Whatever..." he mumbled. He would've argued back but he was so worn out, he just walked back to the couch to rest. He didn't want to waste his remaining energy arguing with Botan over something so trivial. But, he didn't manage to when...

BONK!

...the girl had hit him on the head with a broom.

Shuichi flinched at the pain and turned to glare at her with narrowed emerald eyes. "What the _fuck _are you doing?"

The scowl, that was on Botan's lips, deepened slightly and she glared back. "That's what you get for stealing."

To be honest, Botan wouldn't care that much about a stupid glass of water, but since it was Shuichi that stole her water in the first place...well, let's just say, she got angry. Not only did he worsen things – Botan blamed him for the their parents' misunderstanding –, and mocked her more on more than a few occasions, he was also stealing what was rightfully hers!

He arched an eyebrow at her, and rubbed his aching head. "Never mind, I'm not going to waste any more of my precious energy on you."

"Oh, so you mean to tell me that I'm not worth wasting energy on?!"

He sneered. "Isn't that obvious?"

She gawked at him. Oh, how she wanted to wipe that stupid sneer off his annoying face. "Apologize," she demanded.

A mocking laugh erupted from his lips. "You want me to apologize over something stupid like that? Forget it, I'm not going to."

He didn't miss how her eyes twitched slightly at this. "Then you will pay!"

Shuichi frowned, a bewildered expression on his face and his only response was, "Huh?" but he didn't have the time to react when Botan had suddenly tackled him – for the third time since she met him – to the cold, hard floor of the house. "What the hell, woman?!"

Botan glowered down at him. "I'm not getting off of you until you say you're sorry," she threatened.

His jaws dropped at her words. "What? Are you insane?! It's just water, dammit!"

She responded by giving him a hard hit to the chest. "I don't care!"

"I'm not going to apologize for one glass of water!"

"Just fucking ask for my forgiveness!" Another hit.

Shuichi retorted. "No way!"

Hit. "Then I'm not getting off!"

"You're crazy," he mumbled.

Botan hit him once again and shouted angrily, "I'm not crazy!"

"I think you do, Botan. I think you have a serious case of mental illness. Do you want me to take you to the mental institution? I can do that," he sarcastically offered, a smirk lingering at the corner of his mouth.

She gaped. "Why you devil!"

"And you're a real angel," he retaliated, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

That only fueled her anger. She hit him again, only this time, it was harder than the previous hits she gave him.

Shuichi winced. "Ouch," he muttered under his breath and glared at the girl. "Why do you girls always hit us guys so hard?"

"Because you guys are always jerks to us girls!" Botan shot back.

He rolled his eyes. "And you're an evil witch."

"You're Satan himself."

"Last time I remembered, I'm a normal human."

Sarcasm.

He received another hit. "Shut up, Shuichi!"

By this time, Shuichi had gotten used to the slight pain and was already ignoring the many hits she was giving him now. "You're the one to talk. You're being loud than I am," he told her, referring to her constant yelling.

Botan fumed. "I hate you, Shuichi. I really do."

He shot her a sardonic smirk. "You think I don't?"

She let out an exasperated noise. "Damn you."

Shuichi was about to give a remark but he cut himself short when something crossed his mind. What if he...

When he was unresponsive for a while, Botan blinked at him, her amethyst eyes in a pool of confusion as she asked, "What?"

A smirk slowly made its way to his lips and his eyes glinted with mischief. His infuriated expression for before was now replaced by a seductive look that sent shivers down her spine.

Botan could already tell she wasn't going to like this...

"You know, Botan..."

"W-what?" was her shaky reply.

"I'm wondering..." He cocked his head to the side, his smirk widening slightly and he continued, "...why do you always jump on me?"

She frowned at his question. "E-eh? Why are you asking that?"

"No reason." His eyes slowly traveled up and down her body before they finally focused on her lower part. "It just makes me think if you have a sick, erotic fantasy of you _riding _me." His voice sounded sultry as he stated this.

But Botan didn't really give a damn about the sexy tone in his voice as she was more taken aback by his words. "Y-you pervert!"

"It's okay, Botan." The said girl could only stare in horror and disgust as his hands slowly made their way to her waist before moving down slightly, and positioned themselves just above her hips. "I'm more than willing to indulge in your lewd fantasies."

The said girl screamed at him. "_My_ lewd fantasies? More like yours!"

Uh-oh.

Why did she say that?

Botan's face paled when Shuichi gave her an alluring look. "Not really, Botan," he started and she could only scream inside her head as he added, "I prefer to be in a situation where I'm on top." he wriggled his eyebrows at her.

Her eyes widened at the dirty meaning behind his statement. "Y-you! I'm going to kill you!"

A low, husky chuckle erupted from his chest. "Oh, please, don't tell me you've never think of things like that about me," he paused, his laugh subsiding and a smirk tugging at his lips. "You don't think I'm attractive?" He titled his head at her.

The angry look on her face turned to a frown. Truthfully, she didn't know how to answer to that. Of course, Shuichi was the most sexy, handsome, charming, irresistible male she'd ever seen and she was undoubtedly attracted to him. But, remembering the times when he irked her with his constant teasing and sarcasm, stopped Botan from agreeing that she did find him tempting.

So, she gave the only reply she could that time:

"I don't know."

Hearing her hesitant words, Shuichi stared at him with a scrutinizing look.

There was silence.

Neither said anything after that.

Several moments passed, and still, nothing came out of their mouths, and the girl still hadn't remove herself from Shuichi. They just lay there on the floor, with Botan sitting rather comfortably on him, her eyes staring at him and Shuichi stared back.

They just gazed at each other, for the longest time.

Before Shuichi finally decided to break the silence. "Uh, I'm sorry."

"For the water? Oh, forget it, it doesn't matter really. It's not important," she answered him and smiled only to blink when he shook his head. "No, not about that. Just, um...I'm sorry about the kiss...that day..." he mumbled, his voice barely audible as those words came out of his lips, but Botan heard it loud and clear.

Another silence.

But this one was shorter than the one before as Botan broke it off after only a couple of seconds of looking at him. "Oh, it's okay. I forgot all about it, really. I don't think I mind it that much. Like you said before, Shuichi, it was just a kiss, right?"

The said boy tilted his head. "Just a kiss?" he echoed.

Botan blinked at him. "Wasn't it?"

His famous smirk was now back on his face. "I guess that depends."

She shot him a confused look, as if asking him what he meant but he didn't say anything else. He just lay there, with that smirk lingering on his lips as his emerald eyes gazed at her.

After a while, he spoke again, his voice asking her, "Tell me, Botan, did you like our 'kiss'?"

The intelligent reply was, "Eh?" and her cheeks flushed red. "W-what do you mean by that?"

"You know perfectly what I mean," he said teasingly, his hands now traveling up and down her back, making her body quiver slightly. The way his hands caressed her back felt so good to her that it took her long moments to finally realize that she should get off of him. She was reminded that she didn't even like him, that she hated him as much as he hated her, and she was sure, if this keeps up, she was sure that she would drown in him completely.

She made a move to get up but was stopped as hands held her down. "Shuichi," she warned, trying to sound stern but failed miserably when his name came out in a breathless pant. Shuichi seemed pleased by her reaction as his lips curved up into a satisfied smirk. Botan saw this and frowned. Once again she tried to distance herself from him but she was stopped twice when his hands swiftly took a hold of her arms and before she could even comprehend what he was about to do, Botan found herself on the floor with Shuichi on top of her, his legs between hers, and his hands on either side of her head, trapping her.

"Shuichi, what are you doing...?" she asked him.

He just smirked down at her. Ignoring her question, "Did you like the feeling of my lips pressing against yours?" he asked her back.

She stared at him with a mildly terrified look on her face before looking away, pink tinting her cheeks and soft, pink lips trembling. "Did _you_?"

Botan's eyes returned to him and she was greeted by the sight of Shuichi looking down at her with a smile on his lips. Where did that smirk go? She wondered slightly but was snapped out of her thoughts when Shuichi surprisingly answered her, "I did."

Her eyes widened, and before she could open her mouth to say anything else, he crushed his lips on hers.

His lips moved against hers slowly, tempting her to move against him...

But Botan was too shocked to respond but the shock soon died down and she was about to kiss him back when...

"Kyaa~!"

...a squeal was heard coming from the door.

Shuichi pulled back quickly and they both simultaneously turned to look at the door, only to see Yukio and Shiori standing there and staring at the two.

"Uh, Okaeri...?" the two chorusedly and slowly said.

Shiori clapped her hands, letting another girlish squeal escape her lips as she replied with a happy, "Tadaima".

The whole house was silent for a few moments before Yukio finally broke it off.

"A-ha! I knew you guys were dating!"

As if on instincts, both of them denied at the same time,

"NO!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. It belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi.**

**You're Not So Bad**

**Chapter 5**

Shuichi liked the mornings.

He'd wake up every morning at the sound of the clock ticking, at precisely 7:00 a.m. Then, after taking a long bath, he'd walked over to his desk and take out his books, just to study and sometimes, he'd even read novels. He liked sitting at his desk, with his window open, letting the gentle yet full-blown bone chilling breeze enter his room. He'd hear the wonderful sounds of the birds chirping, and kids playing outside of the house. It was peaceful and serene.

That was his usual routine in the mornings, and he loved it, every second of it.

This morning was different though.

His eyes were glued to the same paragraph for a long time now, trying to focus and read the information but, he failed miserably as his mind was more preoccupied with other thoughts;

thoughts about a certain azure-haired girl.

And it bothered him.

It was hard to concentrate.

A strand of crimson hair entered his eye and he blew a column of air between his lips, watching as it swayed lazily. Leaning back on his wooden chair, Shuichi stared at the wall; nothing in particular was there but, his eyes were still fixated on it. He felt the puff of wind blowing against his air, and he waited; waited for the growing frustration that was slowly creeping into his skin to vanish. After a few moments, his hands took a hold of the book and he began to read it, just reading and reading...

Until the memory of soft, pink lips flashed in his mind...

_Her lips._

A groan erupted from his chest, the frustration was back again. Why couldn't she leave him alone? Why was his mind plagued with thoughts of her? Why couldn't he just forget about those kisses? They didn't matter, and she obviously didn't, either. So why? Why couldn't he stop thinking about her? It was like his head didn't want to let go of her. And it scared him. It irritated him and confused him. Didn't he hate her? Didn't he loathe her? Then why was she always in his head? It was like she was haunting him.

He didn't like this feeling.

Because it was disturbing his ability to focus on things that he'd usually love to do.

Because he hated her, and it bewildered him that he was thinking so much about her.

He'd never felt this way before. His head was always filled with nothing but books and school; he'd never think of another person except for his mother and his friends, so it unnerved him that he was thinking of a girl, and of all girls, why _her_?

Why Botan?

Shuichi wanted to scream with anger; anger at himself for letting her inside his head and anger at her for doing this to him but he didn't. Because he wasn't the type to express his feelings. So he did the only thing he could think of then; he walked to his bed, and lay there, with a pillow pressed against his face. And, he waited once again. Just waiting and waiting...

Waiting for the thoughts of Botan to disappear from his mind...

* * *

><p>Botan stared at the screen of the television.<p>

Another episode of "The Amazing World of Gumball" was airing, but even though she had her eyes on the TV, her mind was drifting somewhere else.

Shuichi.

There was a time, she'd remember the times he annoyed her, and she'd think to herself, how could he, during all those times, change from a polite, kind-hearted person (he'd never act that way with her before but she could tell that from the way he treated his mother) to a sarcastic person with a sharp tongue then switch to a more impersonal and perverted personality? How could all that kindness and evilness co-exist together in the redhead? She'd always think of him like that, because he'd always confuse and irk her.

This time was unlike that time though.

This time he felt...different to her. Whenever she'd think of him before, what entered her mind would always be a perverted, sardonic, evil, and mean Shuichi. But right now, her head was thinking of his kisses; how good it felt to have his lips moving against her and last night... Why was she thinking of the night at the kitchen? Why did that night matter to her? Why did it feel special to her?

So many questions.

Yet there were no answers.

Heaving a loud, exasperated sigh, Botan shook her head, trying to shake him out of her mind...

But why wouldn't it work?

Why–

She was brought back to reality as a feminine voice reached ears. "Botan-chan!" Shiori called.

Whipping her head around to look at the woman, only to blink when she was greeted by the sight of Shiori, who had her arms crossed in front of her chest, and a small pout was evident on her face.

"Didn't you hear what I said?" she asked.

The girl once again blinked, before an understanding look passed her features. Scratching the back of her head, Botan's lips curved up into a sheepish grin. "Um...sorry, Shiori. I wasn't listening. What were you saying again?"

"Botan-chan! I've been trying to tell you the same thing over and over again but you weren't even listening to me!" Shiori said in dismay.

The azure-haired teen laughed. "Sorry, sorry, now what were you saying?" she asked again.

There was a frown embedded on Shiori's face as she stared at the younger female. There was something...wrong with her. Shiori couldn't put her finger on it, but she could tell that something was bothering Botan. After a few seconds of peering at the girl, Shiori sighed, shrugging it off as her imagination. "I was just asking if you can take care of the house for me."

Shiori could only blink in confusion as Botan suddenly paled, her amethyst eyes widening at her words. "What?" she blurted out. "You're going out?"

The woman nodded her head, the bewilderment had somewhat died down and replied, "Yes, with your dad."

Botan's face grew paler. With Yukio? Where were the two going? Were they going on a date again? She really, really didn't like the idea. Oh, don't get her wrong, she didn't mind if Yukio and Shiori went out on a romantic date together – like they'd usually would – but now wasn't really a good time for a date. If they leave, then Botan would once again be left alone with Shuichi, the last person she wanted to be alone with.

She racked her brain for a moment, thinking of an excuse so that the two adults wouldn't go out. What was she supposed to say? She didn't know but she had to say something, she had to lie, so that she could prevent the situation she didn't want to happen from happening. A few seconds passed, before she finally opened her mouth. "Don't you think you guys are going on too many dates?"

It was true but honestly, Botan didn't care how many times had they gone out. Though she was willing to say anything as long as she didn't have to be alone with the redhead.

Shiori stared at her, seemingly contemplating what she said before shrugging her shoulders. "I know, but I don't think it's wrong."

"It's not," Botan agreed, and paused for a moment, pondering how to continue her sentence before finally speaking, "but didn't you say that you want to spend some time with me? You know, to get to know me? How are we supposed to get to know each other if you guys keep going out?"

"Oh, Botan-chan. I did say that, but I think we have a lot of time to get to know each other. We can always have our girl hangouts some other time, right?"

The girl didn't know what else to say then.

* * *

><p>"What?"<p>

Yukio blinked, his dark purple eyes in a pool of befuddlement as he stared at the redhead who was sitting next to him on the bed. He had came into his room to tell Shuichi that he was going to be out with Shiori again, but when he had told him that, the boy had apparently freaked out.

"Um, I'm going to go out with your mother," he repeated.

"I know, I heard you," Shuichi replied. "But, why?"

"Why?" Yukio echoed.

'Why'? Why was he asking him that? Did he not like him going out with Shiori? Yukio had thought Shuichi didn't mind it since he had seen like he was okay with them going out, so why was the boy asking him this now?

Shuichi seemed to catch on what was on his mind and he quickly said, "It's not that I don't like you dating my mother," he paused and watched as Yukio stared at him, seemingly interested in what he was going to say and was apparently listening intently. So he continued, "It's just...don't you think you already gone on a too many dates? Maybe you guys should take a break from the dating for a while."

Yukio's brows furrowed. The intelligent reply was, "Are we going out too much?"

Shuichi nodded his head as a yes.

The teen silently hoped that Yukio would listen to him. Because he really didn't want to be alone with Botan again. It was bad enough that he couldn't stop thinking about her, he certainly didn't want to 'worsen' his condition by spending more time with her.

But what if Yukio decided to still go out with Shiori? What was he going to do if the man made that decision?

He wondered for a moment if any of his friends had any plans for that day. If they did, then Shuichi was going to join them in their little hangout, just to avoid Botan. Then, a thought occurred him: what if they were all too busy to go out? Yusuke was his first option but he remembered the teen saying something about going to his grandmother's house for a couple of days because his mother had forced him to. So, Shuichi suspected he wasn't going to see Yusuke anytime soon.

What about Kuwabara? He pondered for a moment, then recalled that the carrot-head had told him before that he wasn't going to be hanging out with them for a while since he was forced to go to some extra classes that his sister, Shizuru had signed him up for.

Hiei? Shuichi didn't even need to think whether the spiky-haired teen were going out or not. He knew Hiei more than anyone did, and although it didn't seem that way, they were close friends. His guess was even IF Hiei DID have plans of going somewhere, Shuichi highly doubted that he wanted him to tag along. Oh, yes, like he stated before in his thoughts, he and Hiei were close friends – heck – he was the closest friend Hiei had, but there was a problem; he WAS talking about Hiei here. The teen was the type of person who liked to be alone so there was a high possibility that his 'buddy' wasn't going to like the idea of having someone else with him.

Of course, there were times when Hiei actually agreed to hang out with them. But most of the time, he did it because he was forced by the other three. Admittedly, they were good at making him do as they say. And, he'd usually listen to them because they'd annoy the hell out of him.

Something told Shuichi that Hiei wasn't going anywhere that day though.

For a moment, he wondered why his friends had to be busy at the wrong time.

So now the only thing he could do was pray that Yukio would cancel their date.

Unfortunately, he didn't.

"Shuichi, it doesn't matter if we're going out too many times or not. I'm still going to the movies with my darling today."

Shuichi ignored the 'darling' word in Yukio's sentence (seriously, he still wasn't comfortable with hearing a man call his mother like that), and protested, "But-"

He was cut off when Yukio walked out of the room with an "I see you soon" and closed the door.

Shuichi let a loud sigh escape his lips.

"This is just great."

* * *

><p>Shuichi wasn't the outdoor type, that was for sure.<p>

It was a fact that he'd normally spend most of his time in his room.

And most people who knew Shuichi well enough, wouldn't think it was weird if he spent five hours in there. Because they knew that kind of thing was normal with Shuichi, since he'd rather use most of his time reading his books.

Botan also knew that. Granted, she didn't know much about Shuichi – because most of the time they spent in each other's presence, they'd either fight or keep their mouth shut – but she knew enough to know that now was different than other days he was in his room.

It was different because Shuichi didn't even exit his bedroom for the whole three hours he was in there. Not even for one second. He didn't go down to fetch a drink, or something to eat even. There was nothing. At all. Nada.

Not that she wanted to see him or anything but, let's be honest here, if someone doesn't come out of their room for anything to full their stomachs with, what person wouldn't be worried? She had even begun to suspect that something happened to him.

Which explained why she was now standing there, in front of his door.

Botan contemplated what to do for a moment. Should she knock, or just open the door and let herself in? Was she even allowed to be in his room? She doubted Shuichi was going to let her inside, especially after what had happened between them the first time she had came in. At the memory, blood immediately rushed to her cheeks. She inwardly screamed. Why the hell was she thinking about THAT now?! She wanted to slap herself for even remembering. Shaking her head, Botan's blush was now gone – though there was still a slight pink tinting her cheeks.

Oh, what the hell? She might as well get it over with. It was simple enough. Just open the door, and look inside to see if he was okay. Yes, yes, it was easy...she should be able to do it...

So why was she hesitating?

Botan mentally scolded herself. _'Oh, don't be such a wimp! Just get it done with. It's not that hard.'_

With those thought, Botan raised her trembling – wait, trembling? – hand and brought her fist to the hard surface of the door, knocking twice.

She waited for a response. A few seconds passed by, and still nothing could be heard from inside. She made a move to knock again only to stop in her movements as a sound that...was something between a sigh and a moan (?) reached her ears.

"What do you want?" His voice was harsh.

Botan wasn't really surprised by this as he had always been that way around her. So she just reached for the doorknob, and slowly opened the door, making a creaking sound. Upon entering, she caught a glimpse of Shuichi who was lying on the bed, his arms crossed behind his head and staring at her with a hardened expression, which made her feel uneasy.

There was an awkward, uncomfortable silence before she finally spoke, "Er, do you need anything?"

"Why? Do I look like I need your help?"

Wow,

that was rude.

Despite her slight annoyance, Botan chose to ignore his tone, and responded, "No, you don't. But I was just wondering if you want something to eat or drink..." Her last sentence had came out in a mere whisper but she knew Shuichi had heard it clearly.

"Do I look like I'm hungry?"

His voice hadn't sounded so harsh as it had been before. This time it sounded a bit soft, but she could still tell the underlying anger in his tone.

And that baffled her.

Why was he suddenly pissed off at her? Although it was accurate to say that they were almost always furious at each other, neither were the type to get ticked off with no reason whatsoever. So why was he angry at her? Did she do something wrong?

She paused, why was it important to her?

She wasn't supposed to care if he was mad at her or not...

...Right?

Why was she suddenly feeling worried about it? Did it scare her to know that he was upset with her?

_Confusion._

Ignoring the strange feeling that was slowly mounting in her, Botan answered him, "Well, I just thought that you were because you haven't eaten anything."

He scoffed, "How would _you_ know that?"

"Anyone would, Shuichi. You didn't come out of your room, so I think anyone would think the same thing as I did. I'm not stupid, okay? And come on, I thought you were supposed to be the smart one here?"

Shuichi froze at her words.

She was right, he _was_ hungry. His stomach had been growling for a long time now, and he would've go downstairs to get something to eat but considering that Botan was downstairs, he had stopped himself. So, Shuichi just stayed there, in his room, being stubborn. Now, that was not a word to describe him. 'Stubborn'? He didn't think he was even capable of being stubborn. Or did he get that characteristic from spending too much time with Yusuke? Perhaps, Shuichi mused.

And being the stubborn person he now was, Shuichi said, "No, I'm fine. I don't need anything. You can get out now."

Botan frowned.

It was obvious that he was lying.

She didn't know why though. But, she didn't bother to think of the reason as she was more infuriated at the way he was trying to deny her help. Crossing her arms, Botan shot him a cold stare. "Liar."

Shuichi decided to pretend he didn't hear that. "Will you just get out of my room?"

"No," she stubbornly refused.

Great, now they were both being stubborn.

The redhead scowled. "If you haven't notice, this is _my _room, so you don't have the right to do anything you want."

"I'm not going to leave until you admit you want me to help you."

"I don't need any help from _you_."

"Will you stop being so stubborn?"

"Will _you_?" Shuichi shot back.

Botan was on the verge of ripping her hair out. "Is having someone worry over you a crime?" She was practically yelling now.

But, Shuichi didn't say anything.

He had adopted an icy stare and purposely looked straight at her, as if saying that he wasn't going to ask for her assistance.

She seemed to notice, looking into his eyes and tried to meet his cold stare with one of her own, which meant that she wasn't going to leave the room until he asked for her help.

So, they just stared at each other for the longest time.

After a while, Botan got tired of it and broke off the staring contest. "Just tell me what you want, and I'll get it for you."

"I don't want anything."

"For God's sake, Shuichi. You're not trying to starve yourself, are you?"

He rolled his eyes. "Can't you just leave me alone?" Then he thought, _'It's bad enough that I can't shake you out of my head.'_

A vein visibly popped. Botan let out a loud, exasperated sigh. Oh, who was she kidding? The guy was too stubborn! She had a stubborn streak of her own but it seemed Shuichi was more stubborn than he was. Whatever, Botan thought. If Shuichi decided to starve himself to death then that wasn't her problem. He could do anything he want, and she wouldn't want to care anymore. "Fine, whatever. I'll leave, if that's what you want. But if you need any help soon, then don't come crying to me."

"Don't worry, I won't be needing it," he coldly said, looking away from her.

Botan glared at him, before turning around to leave.

* * *

><p>Shuichi wrapped the bedsheets around his entire body.<p>

He was shivering, and sweating. Not to mention, his muscle ached and he was also feeling slightly dizzy.

He was undoubtedly having a fever.

Shuichi hadn't expected it coming, because he had felt fine at first. Then, a few minutes after Botan had left his room, his body had begun to feel a bit...weak. He was hungry, but as the fever came, he had somehow lost his appetite.

He clenched the sheets, his lips was white and quivering.

Oh, why did this had to happen now?

Of all times, why now?

Shuichi glanced at the door, contemplating if he should call Botan or not. He didn't want to, but he knew he had to. He could practically feel his fever getting worse, and as much as he didn't want Botan to see him like he was right now, he was more afraid of dealing with it alone. You'd probably wonder why the intelligent Shuichi, who was thought to be perfect, couldn't handle a fever by himself.

Well, people. Newsflash: He wasn't perfect.

He had his flaws, and one of those flaws, were fever.

He didn't know how to take care of himself whenever it happened.

When he was a child, his mother used to take care of him everytime he had a fever. He used to get it a lot when he was a kid, so most of the time, Shiori just stayed home. It was one of his weaknesses. He wasn't good at handling this illness. He could get a stomach ache, or anything else even, and he'd always take care of himself but he would always feel like he was in need of assistance whenever it came to fevers.

So, he did what he had to.

"Botan!"

* * *

><p>Botan brutally pushed the buttons on the remote.<p>

It was evident in the rough way she was pressing them that she was still irritated by Shuichi. Why couldn't he just admit that he wanted her to help him? Was it that hard to ask? Was a simple, "I need your help" was hard to pronounce? Okay, she had been angry at him and thought that she wanted him dead at first but she had to admit it herself, she wanted to help him. Yet, Shuichi just wouldn't let her. And that frustrated the hell out of Botan.

So, imagine her surprise when she heard him called her name.

"Botan!"

She shrugged it off, it was just her imagination.

"Botan!"

It was all in her head.

"Botan!"

She was just hearing things.

"Botan!"

She was sure of it.

"DAMMIT, BOTAN! WILL YOU JUST COME IN HERE?!"

Okay, maybe not.

The said girl jumped on her feet at the loud sound, and for a moment, she noted; that was the loudest he had scream at her ever since she had met him. Oh, wait, why was she thinking of that now? Shuichi was actually asking for her right now, wasn't he? So she didn't have time to waste on small things!

Practically sprinting up the stairs, Botan opened the door to his room and laughed in victory. "A-ha! I knew you..."

But she trailed off as soon as she saw him wrapped like a small ball at the corner of his bed, his body quivering and his face slightly red. Then she noticed, was Shuichi...sweating?

Her eyes widened in realization.

"Oh, shit," she muttered under her breath and ran to Shuichi's bed, sitting beside him and putting her hand on his forehead. Her face soon turned panicky, and she removed her hand from his skin, a piercing scream erupting from her lips. "Oh my god! Shuichi, you're burning!"

Shuichi's emerald eyes glared at her. Ignoring her surprise cry, he asked Botan, "What the hell took you so long?" His voice sounded shaky as those words left his lips.

Botan's panicky – and shocked – expression was soon replaced by a look of regret. Guilt was written all over her face and Shuichi's eyes immediately softened as he saw this. "I-I'm sorry, I-"

Shuichi cut her sentence short, "Never mind, forget it. It's okay."

"But-"

"No buts, just...help me," he mumbled, his voice so low, that it was barely audible but Botan heard it, and she nodded.

"Wait here," she told him. "I'll be back. I'm just going to make soup and get the medicines, okay?"

He hummed in response.

The girl got up from the bed and hastily went down the stairs; frightened that Shuichi's condition would worsen. She went into the kitchen and took out some ingredients for the soup. After a while, she was finished and she opened a few of the cupboards there. Where the effing hell did Shiori put the medicines?! Botan knew the woman stored them in the kitchen; she just didn't know where. And her own trembling body was making it harder for her to find them.

For a moment, she regretted not asking Shuichi but that regret soon died down as she finally spotted them.

Grabbing the medications – and a glass of water to make it easier for Shuichi to swallow them soon –, and the soup, Botan literally ran up stairs. When she entered Shuichi's room, she noticed he was now sitting on the bed...half-naked.

"UWAHHHH!" Botan cried out, and was about to drop the soup but she managed to gain her composure before that happened. But her face was now flushed red as she stared at the redhead. "E-er, Shuichi...?"

Shuichi would've laugh at her reaction if it hadn't been for the fever. "I was sweating a lot, so I took of my shirt." To Botan's utter relief, he didn't sound as shaky as he had been earlier, which meant that his fever had probably gone down a bit. But, she could see that he still had it, from the way his body looked sweaty...er, and she thought for a moment that he looked sexy like that. Remembering that it was because of the fever though, Botan inwardly shook her head, trying to get it out of her mind.

Shuichi had noticed the way she looked at him though. Granted, the fever made him feel weak, but it certainly didn't weaken his high observation. But, he chose to pretend he didn't see it.

She gulped. "R-right..."

There was silence, and Botan just stood at the door, staring at him for what seemed like forever before he finally spoke;

"Are you just going to stand there?"

Her amethyst eyes widened, her blush deepening – Botan was sure that her face was similar to the color of tomatoes now – and she stammered. "R-right!"

A small smile lingered at the corner of his mouth as he watched as she sat beside him on the bed, taking a spoonful of the soup in her quivering fingers – Shuichi suspected they were trembling because of her embarrassment of being in the same room as him with him wearing nothing but his pants – and brought it to his lips.

His eyes felled to the spoon, staring at it for a few moments before pulling away, as if hesitating to swallow it. Seeing this, Botan frowned – her blush was still there but it wasn't as red as it had been earlier –, "What?"

Shuichi's gaze returned to her, a smirk slowly forming on his lips. "Just want to make sure it's not poisonous," he teased her.

Botan rolled her eyes. Although she was a bit annoyed that he said that, but she was glad that he had somewhat started to talk as he'd normally would now – even if that so-called 'talk' involved poking fun at her – and Botan took that as a good sign.

He was still feverish, she knew that; but at least, he was getting better.

"Shuichi, if I wanted to kill you and believe me I do, I would choose to do other methods than poison you."

"I'm not convinced."

"Shuichi!"

A low chuckle escaped his lips. He turned to look at her, his eyes smiling and nodded his head. "Okay, okay, I'll eat it." Then he mockingly added, "But only because I have no choice."

She pouted at his words, but decided to bring the spoon back to his lips and he gladly allowed it to completely fill his taste buds. "How is it?" Botan just couldn't help but ask.

Shuichi pursed his lips and faked a disappointed tone in his voice, "I've definitely tasted better."

"Don't pretend you don't like it," she retorted, a small smile making its way to her face.

He arched an eyebrow at her words, "Now where would you get that idea?"

She playfully punched him in the shoulder, earning a small wince from the redheaded boy. "Idiot."

He broke into a fit of laughter, and raised his arms up in defeat. "I'm just kidding, Botan. It's good."

"Just good?"

"What do you want me to say?"

"I don't know" she started, and leaned into him. "Isn't there anything better than 'good'?"

Shuichi smiled, and without realizing it, moved closer to her. "Fine, it's one of the most delicious soups I've ever had in my entire life," he admitted.

The girl seemed pleased with this, and a blush immediately crept up to her cheeks. She let out a small giggle, "That's good, then."

It was weird that they were suddenly getting along fine then, but neither minded or took any time to wonder why or how. They didn't even feel frustrated and confused, or anything. And that was good, the two teenagers guessed.

Shuichi's lips suddenly glinted in mischief, and a seductive smirk tugged at his lips. Botan saw this, and gulped loudly. She could already tell that he was going to say something...perverted...

"But you want to know what's more delicious?" At that exact moment, his eyes traveled down to her lips.

Shuichi seriously didn't know what got into him that time; didn't he hate to remember kissing her earlier in the morning? So why was he feeling so tempted to feel them now? And he still hated her – well, not so much as she already helped him out. He used to avoid her a lot, but then again, everytime, _everytime_, he tried to get as far away as he could from her, something would always pull him closer. It was as if some invisible force was pulling him to her, and what was worse, he didn't think he wanted to resist. Shuichi wondered for a moment, what he was feeling. It was just strange and confusing... He had never felt this way before for anyone, and yet, Botan, a girl he supposedly hated, could easily planted these...feelings in him.

Botan was feeling nervous all of sudden. Shuichi had this intense look in his eyes; she couldn't put her finger on what it was though. It made her feel excited, and that scared her. Then, realizing that the bowl of soup was now empty (during the time they were talking, she was also feeding him), Botan tried to use it as an excuse to get out of there. "E-er...S-Shuichi, I-I think I should go and clean this up...And d-don't forget to eat your medicines, too." She tried to sound as calm as she hoped she had came out as, but failed miserably as she stuttered. Oh, god, why was she feeling shy all of the sudden?

She made a move to get up from the bed, but Shuichi would have none of that.

So, he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her to the bed. Botan, who was taken off guard by this, dropped the bowl, making it fall to the floor. Feeling her back collided with the soft material of the bed, she shouted at him, "Why the hell did you-" but cut herself off.

What was Shuichi doing holding her wrists like that? And, why was he on top of her?

"Shuichi, what are you doing...?" she asked, mildly terrified of what would happen next.

He was still staring at her with the same look in his eyes; although it was more intensified now, and there was a light smirk on his lips. Why was he looking at her like that? It was as if he was ready to eat her, taste her, and it was frightening and exhilarating at the same time.

"Care to find out?" he responded. The sentence was slightly tinted with sarcasm but she knew that he was dead serious about what was going to happen next, and before Botan could voice out her protest, he crushed his lips hard against hers, causing her amethyst eyes to widen in alarm. Oh, no, they weren't supposed to do this. Shuichi was still feverish – Botan could tell that from how warm his lips felt – and not to mention, they didn't even like each other! She tried to pull her wrists out of his grasp; trying to get away but he made sure his hold on them was hard enough so she couldn't break free.

After a while, Shuichi finally broke the kiss and Botan glared at him but it didn't look like she was angry because she was sporting a dark blush on her cheeks. "Shuichi, what the effing **loving **hell are you doing?" Once again, she tried to pull away as far as she could from him but that was proven hard to do as he basically had her trapped beneath him.

Shuichi seemed to catch on her defiance but, instead of letting go, he lowered his head to apply his lips on Botan's neck, which made the girl gasp and jolt as if she was struck by electricity. "Shuichi!"

The said boy didn't respond to her cry and just leaned down to kiss her on the mouth. Then, slowly, he stuck his tongue out and licked her bottom lip, begging for permission to enter her sweet mouth, which she refused to oblige to. When Shuichi felt that Botan wasn't going to open her mouth, he bit hard on her lip, earning a surprised gasp from her and his tongue slipped in; entwining it with hers.

Once again she tried to resist, but the feeling was too good that she couldn't help but kiss him back, their tongues battling for dominance. Her fingers then entangled themselves in his crimson locks and she tugged lightly, causing him to grunt.

They broke off the kiss, finally remembering that breathing was a necessity. "Damn you, Shuichi..." Botan mumbled, trying to sound stern but failed miserably as her words came out in breathless pants.

He smiled. "Sorry, I couldn't help myself."

With that, he slammed his lips on top of hers, but she didn't bother to struggle this time and just went with the flow. And she had to admit, as much as she might've hated him, she could easily forget all that everytime his lips moved against hers in a passionate kiss, their tongues dancing against each other. Then she found another problem: she couldn't stop.

_'Oh, no... If this keeps up, I don't think I'll care where he touches me anymore...' _Botan thought, and tried to stop the kiss but she couldn't. It just felt so good.

Shuichi, on the other hand, couldn't stop himself, either. He would hardly call it a 'problem' though, he loved how soft and sweet her lips tasted against his and he just couldn't pull away; he didn't want to anyway. "Ah...this feels so good..." he mumbled in the kiss.

"S-Shuichi, stop...ngh...w-we shouldn't...ahn...do this..." she tried to protest, but it came out slightly weak; it was difficult to stay 'sane' and refuse when he just kept kissing her like that. Not to mention, she hated the way he was making her moan so much. She kept thinking that they should stop before they could regret it, that they weren't supposed to do this.

He reluctantly pulled away, opening those emerald eyes of his to look at her and stared.

But the staring didn't last long as his mouth once again locked with hers in a frenzied kiss. It was all teeth bumping, biting down on lips and tongues battling for dominance, just the way both of them liked it.

And that was it, Botan let all remaining reason within her to rot and let her lips dance rhythmically against his.

* * *

><p>"Ne, sweetheart?"<p>

Yukio hummed in response, turning his head to look at Shiori who was sporting a concerned look on her face, her eyes staring at the phone in her hand. He frowned at this and asked, "What's wrong?"

"I've been trying to call Shuichi and Botan-chan, but no one picked up."

He sighed. "Don't worry, darling. I'm sure they're just fine. Maybe they're just 'having fun'," he tried to reassure her, wriggling his eyebrows to emphasize his point.

"But, what if something bad happened to them?"

"Don't worry, you shouldn't think like that."

A long silence crept up between the two lovebirds before Shiori finally spoke, "Let's go home."

He pouted at her words. "Aw... I was thinking we could be together, a little longer," he muttered under his breath, his voice inaudible but Shiori heard it clearly.

"Next time, we'll date as long as you want. But now, let's just go home, okay?"

A heavy sigh erupted from his chest. As much as he didn't want to, he still agreed, "Okay."

* * *

><p>They broke off the kiss, panting heavily and staring at each other with half-lidded eyes.<p>

Botan didn't know how many times they had kissed already; it was too much too count – somewhere along the kisses, his hands had let go of her wrists, and she didn't even notice when. Shuichi was a good kisser, even though he had never kissed anyone before – she didn't know where she even knew that but, something told her that it was true – and it was unbelievable that he could easily make her forget about everything else.

But, she knew that they couldn't kiss each other the whole night. She was getting sleepy, and she was sure he was, too. Not to mention, he had a fever! But his fever wasn't as bad as it was before; she could feel his body temperature slowly going back to normal. In spite of Shuichi's condition getting better, he was still a bit feverish and she knew he had to take his medicines, just so that he could recover completely.

Shuichi seemed to have a different idea though.

He lowered his head to kiss her again but was stopped when Botan pushed him off slightly, looking away with a blush on her face. "Y-you should take your medicines now, and we should get some sleep, too..." she told him.

A loud, exasperated sigh escaped from his lips. Although he wanted nothing but to ravish her lips all night long, Shuichi knew that she was right and pulled away from her, now sitting on the bed with Botan next to him. "Fine."

The girl watched him as he grabbed the bottle of medications and took the glass of water she brought for him; taking a few medicines and swallowing them. Botan got up from the bed, kneeling down to pick the bowl on the floor, and was about to leave when one of Shuichi's hands once again took a hold of her wrist, stopping her in her tracks.

"What is it?" she asked him.

For a fleeting moment, she saw Shuichi's eyes darted to left and...was that a blush on his face? But as fast as it had appeared, it soon vanished. "Can you..." He hesitated for a moment. "...sleep with me?"

Botan seemed to misunderstand his meaning. "W-what-? Shuichi, this is not the time for your dirty jokes-"

She was cut off, "I don't mean it like that."

The azure-haired teen frowned at his words. Blinking in confusion for a few seconds, before a knowing look made its way to her face, and blood crept up to Botan's cheeks. "O-oh...that's okay, I guess..."

An eyebrow arched at her quizzically and she could've sworn she heard him laugh. "Were you actually thinking of _that_, Botan?"

Her blush deepened. "N-no!"

Shuichi's laugh soon subsided and he looked at her with a smirk lingering at the corner of his mouth. "I never knew you were such a dirty girl."

"Shut up-!"

"And here I thought you were innocent." A fake, disappointed sigh escaped his lips. "Looks like I was wrong."

"Stop it now, or I swear, I'll kill you in your sleep."

"Wow, how scary~"

"Shuichi!"

He laughed, "Relax, Botan."

She scowled at him and walked to the bed. She pushed him roughly to the bed – so he was now lying there –, but he just continued to laugh and clutched his stomach, tears evident in his eyes.

Botan's face was still red – she didn't know if it was because of embarrassment or anger (maybe both), but either way she felt like yelling at the boy and maybe even hurt him a little. She climbed to the bed, and 'attacked' him with a hard hit to the shoulder. "Stop laughing!"

With that, she began a hitting spree at him. Shuichi's laugh slowly subsided, and he grabbed her wrists, stopping her hits. He grinned, and opened his mouth to tease her again but his grin immediately felled when his eyes 'accidentally' gazed at her lips. So soft, and inviting... He could just devour them right then and there.

He mentally shook his head, remembering that they were supposed to be going asleep and told her, "We should get some sleep now."

Botan blinked at him, her eyes in a pool of confusion. He had looked like he was about to say something, but it seemed he stopped himself. She gazed quizzically at him, as if asking him what was wrong, but he just shook his head, and smiled.

She decided to shrug it off, thinking that maybe Shuichi was just tired. With that conclusion, she rolled to her side of the bed, and Shuichi pulled the sheets up, covering their bodies; while Botan reached for the night lamp, and flicked the switch off.

Silence.

There was just silence for a while.

Before Botan finally spoke, "Good night, Shuichi."

It took a moment for Shuichi to answer back, "Good night, Botan."

With that, both teenagers closed their eyes; their last thoughts were of each other before they let their sleep take them to their dreams.

* * *

><p>Shiori ran up the stairs, hastily.<p>

Opening the door to Botan's room, she looked inside and her look of concern turned panicky when she saw that the girl was not there.

Fast-walking to Shuichi's, she opened the door to the large bedroom, checking inside and was about ready to scream if he wasn't there only to blink when she saw an amusing, and interesting sight:

Shuichi had his arms wrapped protectively around Botan's waist, and the girl was comfortably nuzzling her face in his chest.

_'Oh well, looks like I worried for nothing, after all..._' she thought, a gentle, yet small smile forming on her lips as she watched the two for a while before whispering in a soft, and low voice,

"Oyasumi."

Shiori got out of the room, closing the door behind her as she did.

* * *

><p><em>Oyasumi = Good night in Japanese.<em>


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. It belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi.**

**You're Not So Bad**

**Chapter 6**

_Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock._

Shuichi's mind was fuzzy, the last remnants of a dream being chased away by the realization that he was awake again. It was a nice dream, something about sitting in a big oak tree in meadow full of flowers but the details are fading fast even as he tried to recall them. With a mental sigh, he allowed his brain to focus and cautiously opened one eye. Squinting at the bright sunlight coming from his bedroom's glass window, Shuichi wondered how long he'd been asleep. He blinked twice before glancing at the clock.

_7:00 a.m._

A low groan erupted from his chest. He didn't really want to get up now; if he could, he wanted to stay in the bed a little longer. Most people who knew who Shuichi was would find it strange if they saw the almost-perfect redhead being lazy and not wanting to get off his bed. Well, people, he liked lying there because of a certain azure-haired girl.

His eyes darted down to Botan, who was still sleeping and if I might add, pressing her soft, round cheek against Shuichi's hard, naked chest. A smile slowly formed on his lips as he eyed her appearance. Her sky-blue locks were scattered all over the pillows; some of them were even slightly entangled in his crimson locks, and her face was sporting a look of serene, as if nothing in the world could bother her.

_'So cute..._' He chuckled to himself, and for a fleeting moment, there was fondness in his eyes as he stared at the girl in his arms. But it soon dissipated from his emerald orbs as he thought of the relationship he had with Botan.

He no longer hated her, and Shuichi was certain neither did she. But, what was those feelings they harbored for each other? He'd never felt this way before... The urge to always be by her side was getting strong, and it was slowly creeping into his heart. It was as if he wanted to be with her all the time, to know what she's doing, what she's eating; as if he wanted to share everything with her. But it was strange... This 'feeling' was strange.

What he knew for sure though, he knew that he didn't treat her merely as a friend. Friends? Normal 'friends' don't share a million kisses with each other; they don't feel this...butterflies in their stomachs.

But Shuichi didn't mind. Whatever the feelings he had for Botan was, he didn't mind it at all. Although it was bewildering, it felt good. It felt...great. He just hoped he could put his finger on what it was though.

The redhead was snapped out of his thoughts when a moan reached his ears. "Ngh...Shuichi...?"

"Hmm?"

He peered at her and saw that Botan was now opening her amethyst eyes. She blinked, shut her eyes and then open them again, blinking again before lifting her head up to look at Shuichi. "Morning..." she mumbled, her voice had a hint of drowsiness in it.

He smiled down at her, bringing his hand up to her face to caress her cheek. "Good morning to you too."

"Are you always up so early?"

"It's already 7:00 in the morning, Botan."

"That's still too early for me..."

An eyebrow arched quizzically at her. "Oh?" Shuichi started, moving his hand from her cheek to her hair and entangling his fingers in the soft, silky strands of hair. "Then what time is not 'too early' for you?"

"I don't know. Noon?" she joked, the sleepiness in her voice now gone as a grin slowly appeared on her face.

He laughed, his eyes in a pool of amusement and he threatened, "Ne, Botan, you better wake up now, or else..." but the humor in his voice was evident as those words left him.

"Or else what?"

"Is that a challenge?"

"What does it sound like, genius?"

Botan soon regretted saying that as she was now laughing hysterically...because Shuichi had apparently decided to make her 'pay' by tickling her sides. "S-stop-! Shuichi! P-please-!" She tried to sound as stern as she hoped, but that was proven unsuccessful as her sentences came out between laughs.

A low chuckle. "You challenged me."

"O-okay! Ha-ha, please...! Stop it-!"

"Hmm...let me think," he faked a thoughtful tone, cocking his head to the side before a smirk slowly made its way to his mouth, and instead of stopping as she had ordered him to, he intensified his actions. "Nope!"

"Uwaahh!" Botan literally yelped. "I-I'll do a-anything...!" she begged. Yes, it was embarrassing to beg Shuichi like that but she had to do something. Something to stop him from continuing his tickling spree on her. She was sure if this keeps up, she was going to die of laughter.

"Anything?" Shuichi echoed, a toothy grin appearing on his face as he heard this.

The teen girl would've noticed the mischievous glint in his eyes if she hadn't been 'preoccupied' with his tickles. "Y-yes...! Just, please-! Stop-!"

A few seconds passed by, and Shuichi finally let go of her, the toothy grin from earlier was now replaced by a satisfied smirk. He waited for her to catch her breath before he could finally ask for her to do 'anything' he wanted. After a while, Botan seemed to be breathing normal, but there was a pink color tinting her cheeks as she stared at him with a pout on her lips.

"Darn you, Shuichi!"

She hit him on the head, and that hit was enough to make him completely forget what he was about to ask her to do. But Shuichi didn't get mad or anything, instead he grinned. He had gotten used to her hits.

"Ha-ha, you did this to yourself."

"Ah, that's right." The pout was now gone from her face but it soon changed to an exasperated expression, and she waved her arms in the air. "But you didn't have to go and do that! My stomach hurts now, thanks to you!"

"You're welcome," he grinned, just to make her more exasperated.

"Why you-!" Botan didn't finish her sentence; instead she pinched him by the shoulder. Hard.

"Ouch. Meanie~" he childishly said.

A fit of giggles erupted from Botan's lips at his cute expression. "You did this to yourself," she retorted, using the exact same words as he did before. "Ne, ne, Shuichi, can you make that face again?" Insert puppy-eyes here.

A sweatdrop formed at the back of the said boy's head. "Wha-? Why?"

"I just think you look so cute~!"

"Eh?" was his only reply. He stared at her in disbelieve, but she could clearly see the slight blush adorning his cheeks. "You think I'm cute?"

She nodded her head vigorously. "Uh-huh! The cutest person on earth! Even cuter than any other girl I've met in my WHOLE LIFE! Wait, scratch the whole 'on earth' thing. I think you're the cutest person in the whole UNIVERSE!" she dramatically responded.

Shuichi seriously didn't know if she said that to make fun of him or if she actually meant it. "I don't know if that's a compliment or an insult..." he mumbled, his voice barely audible for anyone to hear.

Unfortunately, Botan did. "Shuichi, take it as a compliment... I truly idolize you."

He could practically picture her smirking evilly right now. Although the way she said it sounded as though she was serious as a heart attack, Shuichi could tell that the sentence was obviously meant to poke fun at him. "Ha-ha, very hilarious," he sarcastically retorted.

Botan seemed to catch on the sarcasm in his voice and broke into a howl of laughter. "Just kidding~!" she playfully told him, her hands traveling up from his chest, and shoulders before finally wrapping around his neck.

He just shook his head; a gentle smile was evident on his face now. Once again he wrapped an arm around her waist, and lowered his head to place his lips nearly on hers; close enough to touch but he didn't. "But, Botan is so much cuter than I am..."

Blood immediately rushed to her cheeks at his compliment. "U-um, thanks..." Her amethyst eyes quickly dropped to his lips which was still at the same agonizing distance Shuichi had put between his and hers. She couldn't help but wet her lips at the thought of those lips kissing her, and she leaned into him, trying to make some contact but he pulled away, teasing her.

"Shuichi..." she stated warningly.

He chuckled. Ignoring her, Shuichi acted like nothing happened and slowly removed himself from the laying position he had on the bed, and turned to look at her with a smile on his face – which annoyed the hell out of her because she knew he knew what he was doing but he pretended like he didn't. "Come on, get off the bed. You can't just stay there the whole day."

"Fine," she grumbled under her breath. Getting up from the bed – reluctantly –, Botan was about to went for the door when Shuichi's voice stopped her in her tracks and she turned her attention to him.

Was that a seductive smirk on his face?

"I'm going to take a bath," he started and Botan dreaded; she could practically tell what he was going to say next... "would you care to join me?" he ended that sentence with a wink.

Botan was right.

That didn't stop her from still feeling embarrassed by it though.

The girl blushed beet red. "SHUICHI!"

Moments later, a slap resounded throughout the house.

* * *

><p>Emerald eyes studied every corner of the house.<p>

Looking for any signs of two particular adults.

Unfortunately, he found none.

Shuichi suspected Yukio and Shiori had gone on _another _date. Well, it wasn't like he had any right to stop them from doing anything they wanted, but he still couldn't help but wonder when they would ever minimize the dating for a bit. Seriously! It was like there wasn't a day when they weren't going out with each other.

Not that he was complaining though.

RING! RING! RING!

His phone suddenly sounded. Taking it out of his pocket and unlocking the machinery, Shuichi peered at the caller ID, and frowned when he saw that it was Yukio. It wasn't that he wasn't fond of the man. He was really. Very much even. But it baffled him to see that Yukio called him instead of Botan. Nonetheless, he accepted the call and put the cellphone to his ear. "Hello?"

_"Oh, hey, Shuichi! What'cha doing there?"_

"Uh, nothing much," the said boy replied before asking, "If you don't mind me asking, where exactly are you?" Usually, he would never ask them where their whereabouts were. He trusted Yukio, even though the man was too childish for his own age, he seemed to be capable of taking good care of his mother. But this time, curiosity got the best of him and he couldn't help but ask.

There was a pause_, _and instead of answering his question, he asked 'intelligently', _"'You' as in me and your mother or just me?"_

For a moment, Shuichi thought if that was actually necessary for him to ask. "I mean the both of you."

_"Oh. Well, even if you meant me only, if I tell you, then you'll also know where Shiori is. Anyways, we're now fetching breakfast. Also, don't worry about the food, okay? There's plenty in the kitchen for you guys to eat."_

Ignoring the first few weird sentences, Shuichi asked, "When will you be back?"

_"Uh, when..." _The man seemed to be thinking about it before a laugh erupted from his lips. _"Well, I don't really know. All I know is I want to spend more quality time with my darling. I want to take her anywhere she wants. So, I wasn't really 'calculating' when we'll get back home. Oh well, whatever."_

From Shuichi's point of view really, the two lovebirds seemed to spend more than enough time needed for each other. They practically spent almost 24 hours, just the two of them. A sweatdrop formed at the back of his head at Yukio's words. Quality time? They were almost together! What more 'quality time' did they want? Shuichi wasn't stupid enough to voice his thoughts though. So he replied anyway. "I see..."

_"Well then, I guess I'll leave Botan in your hands, Shuichi. Take care of her, okay? I'm very proud that she has a wonderful boyfriend like you."_

The redhead let out an awkward laugh. He honestly didn't know what to say to that. "S-sure, no problem..."

_"Oh, okay! Bye!"_

"Bye..." He heard a beep from the other side – which meant that Yukio had hung up – and let a loud sigh escaped from his lips. His thoughts then drifted to what Yukio said about him being Botan's so called boyfriend. He didn't think if that was the suitable title to give him, since he had never confessed to Botan before. Not that he needed to confess anything, right? But he still couldn't help but wonder what exactly was their 'relationship'. He cared for her a lot, that was for sure but he didn't know for certain if that feeling was "love".

What was love really? How would you know you're in love with someone? He wondered. Okay, admittedly, Shuichi was probably one of the smartest people that anyone on earth would ever meet in their entire lives. But things like emotions were never his expertise. So he didn't know what love was. He had never felt love before. He'd never been in love. Not one girl had ever caught his interest before. Physical attraction? A few times but any of that never lasted long; the attraction would always fade over time. Frankly, the closest relationship a girl could ever have with him was merely friends.

"Friends"? He hardly thought of Botan as one of his friends. She had never been one of his peers. Their relationship just took a drastic change from hate to something...closer.

But what was Botan to him? A kissing partner? He scowled at the thought. Kissing... Since when did he started to like doing that really? She was the first girl he had ever kissed, and yet, they had only known each other for a short time. Yes, he loved that her lips were soft and sweet – anyone would love that – but there was something else that made him like kissing her as he did. What was that "something" though?

He wanted to know so badly.

"Shuichi!"

His thoughts were cut short when a familiar voice was heard from behind him. A smile made its way to his face. _'Speak of the devil.'_

Turning around, Shuichi was greeted by the sight of Botan who was staring at him with a weird expression on her face. "Let me guess, we're alone again, huh?"

"It seems so," he answered her and nodded his head.

For a fleeting moment, he caught a glimpse of Botan darting her eyes to the left, a playful smile was evident on her lips but that look vanished as fast as it had appeared. But Shuichi was sure that he had seen it and he couldn't help but wonder what she was up to. He watched as she stuck her tongue out and slowly, so agonizingly slowly, licked her own lips...

His confusion died down soon as he finally seemed to catch on her intentions.

Oh,

was she teasing him?

She was apparently getting payback for the way he treated her in the bedroom.

His eyes lingered on her lips, watching her as she bit her bottom lip before licking them again and he gulped loudly. Oh, how he would just loved to... He was cut off from his own thoughts when Botan suddenly tilted her head at him, and asked, "Shuichi, are you okay?" Although her tone sounded innocent, her actions were completely the opposite of 'innocent'.

It took him a moment to answer. "Um...I-I guess..."

Botan inwardly smirked at the reactions she was getting from him. Oh, this was fun! She slightly wet her own lips, making them look even more kissable in Shuichi's eyes and that was it, he couldn't control himself anyway.

Before the girl could even pronounce another word, she was immediately silenced by a pair of lips that came crashing down on hers. She tried to struggle but that was proven to be hard as an arm immediately came to wrap around her waist and preventing her from moving. Shuichi deepened the kiss, and Botan stopped trying to get away and heatedly kissed him back. Her tongue felt the rough texture of his lips, before sucking on the bottom one and eliciting a grunt from the redhead. "Dammit, Botan, you're such a tease..."

They broke apart, and Botan grinned at him. "Is that a bad thing?"

He arched an eyebrow at her, and a light smirk lingered at the corner of his mouth. "Not really." As those words left him, Shuichi slammed his lips against her once again, this time both of them opening their mouths and he whirled his tongue against hers; waiting until she caved into that desire, and began driving her tongue back against his.

"I won't be ever to stop if this keeps up," Botan mumbled and it wasn't like she was complaining or anything because her hand was already tugging on his hair and pulling him closer. Shuichi just snorted, "Less talking, more kissing, you idiot." And more kissing followed alright.

A few minutes passed, before the two teenagers finally decided to pull away, and panted heavily – though he wasn't panting as hard as she was. It didn't take too long for the both of them to catch their breaths and Shuichi leaned his face closer to hers, trying to get a taste of that sweet mouth of hers again but it seemed Botan had a different idea of what to do. Pulling back from him, the azure-haired teen walked a few steps away from him.

He stared at her and saw that Botan's lips were now tugged in an ear-to-ear grin. Frowning, Shuichi asked, "What?" He could already guess she had other plans for the two of them.

"I was just thinking," she started then looked away; but the grin on her face evidently widened. "if we...er, could go out?"

An eyebrow arched at her questioningly, emerald eyes had a glint of amusement in them as Shuichi asked again, but this time his voice sounded teasing. "Are you asking me out?"

Botan immediately blushed beet red. "N-no! That's not it!" she quickly denied. "It's just...um, I mean, do we have to stay here all day long? Why don't we just go out? You know, have fun." It was true. She had only asked him because she didn't want to be stuck at home, with nothing to do. Going out was better than just staying there, right? The blush was slowly vanishing from her face only to grew deeper again when Shuichi teasingly told her,

"It's not like we can't enjoy ourselves here. Frankly, I think I have a better idea of 'fun'." His eyes felled to her lips, as if to add emphasis to his words and Botan could practically tell that he was thinking of kissing her right then and there.

"That's not the kind of fun I meant, you pervert!"

"Pervert? Ha-ha, I think you liked it as much as I did."

Ouch. Hit it right on the nose. "Shuichi!" she stated warningly, which was obviously the direct translation of 'say-anything-else-and-I'll-kill-you'.

He let out a nervous laugh and raised his arms in defeat. "Okay, okay!"

He waited for her to respond but when Botan didn't say anything else, he continued, "So, where do you want to go?"

Her face brightened. "I heard there's a new amusement park open for today. Shuichi, I know you'd prefer to stay here and read your books but come on, you can always do that some other time, right? Plus it's not that far and maybe, just maybe, if we have some time left to spare, we can go to somewhere else."

"Right." A nod at her direction. "And where exactly did you hear that?"

"Some TV channel was airing it yesterday evening," she replied before frowning at him. "Jeez, you really need to watch more television, I think you spend too much time on reading or whatever it is you do in that room of yours."

"In case you've forgotten, I didn't come out yesterday. Besides, I think I've watched enough TV."

"Yeah," she giggled. "Cause you were avoiding me."

That had apparently shut him up.

* * *

><p>This was utterly unbelievable.<p>

Shuichi wondered if any of the things he was seeing was actually happening.

You see, there were a lot, and I mean, A LOT of people there. It was hard to believe that the park could even fit these many... But then again, the park wasn't that small, either. Frankly, it was too big for his own taste. Not that he was complaining or anything – big amusement parks meant that he was saved from the possibility of feeling 'suffocated' in the crowd. There were just too many events there.

Most were just the usual; rides such as the Ferris Wheel or the Roller Coaster, and a big, scary-looking haunted house. There were also an ice-cream shop. But there were some things he had never seen before at parks. One of those weird things they had there was a wedding stall, or whatever it was called. It was just strange though.

It was good that the government decided to add a few interesting events at the new park which had opened for only 10 minutes – again, he couldn't believe a lot of people were there in a short time – but this was just too much. He could practically imagine himself getting dragged by Botan everywhere in his head right now. The first thing that he guessed was she would probably go to the ice-cream shop first.

As soon as he predicted that, Botan had already grabbed him by the arm and pulled him – rather harshly, if he might add but he doubted she noticed it since it seemed she was too excited – and literally sprinted for the ice-cream shop (despite the fact that they were only a few steps away from it).

* * *

><p>"Yusuke! You're not going to run away this time!"<p>

The said delinquent muttered a string of curses under his breath. Great! Just when he thought he was finally successful in escaping, his girlfriend had apparently stopped him first.

Actually, what happened was...

Yusuke had just gone back from his grandmother's place when Keiko decided to ask him to go to a park (which had just opened) with her. He had reluctantly followed her – because he was forced to – and had thought, oh what the hell, how bad would it be anyway? Well, scratch that, it was bad! The worst thing that he could imagine ever happening to him!

Okay, maybe he was overreacting but that still didn't stop him from thinking that the park's events were a bit too overboard. Seriously, a wedding stall (most people seemed to be attracted to it than any other new events there)? It was practically hell on earth for poor Yusuke! To worsen things even more, his beloved girlfriend had wanted to try it out.

Which was what resulted to him trying to get away...

Unfortunately, the brunette stopped him before he could take another step.

"Come on, Keiko! Are you fucking kidding me? No way am I gonna to..." he trailed off, as if he didn't even dare to say it and shuddered.

The girl completely misunderstood what he was trying to say. "Yusuke! Are you saying the thought of getting married to me is repulsive?!"

Uh-oh.

He paled.

Letting a nervous laugh escaped his throat, Yusuke waved his hands frantically in front of his face. "No, that's not what I meant!" He seriously didn't want to see her getting angry at him. Or in this case, _angrier_.

She crossed her arms, and stared at him with narrowed eyes. "What did you mean then?"

Yusuke glanced at the said wedding stall before returning his gaze to her. "Don't you think it's stupid? Getting married, I mean," he answered. For a fleeting moment, he saw fire in Keiko's eyes and immediately added, "Not that I wouldn't want to marry you, Keiko! Just, uh... how do I say this? Um... I think it's stupid to get married at some wedding stall, or whatever the fuck they call this. Plus, besides it being dumb, marriage is practically every guys' nightmare."

Keiko rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's choice of words. "Yusuke, it's not even a _ real _wedding ceremony! And also, not all guys are like that! There are some decent men who are willing to commit themselves to their true love!"

Yusuke inwardly groaned.

Oh, there she goes again. Truthfully, he didn't mind the whole 'true love' talk she would frequently give him but he seriously didn't like it when she rambled about how other guys acted way better than he did.

"Okay, I get it!" he yelled exasperatedly, wishing she would stop already. And to his relief – and happiness, she did.

But that relief and happiness didn't last long as she grabbed him by the ear and literally dragged him to wedding stall.

* * *

><p><em>'This... This is freaking embarrassing.' <em>Shuichi's left eyebrow was twitching while looking down. "Why do I have to wear this...?"

Botan turned her gaze to the redhead then went back to scooping from her glass of ice-cream. She smiled. "The shop requires customers to wear these." Botan pointed to the cat ears on her head. "See?"

"I know that, genius," he sarcastically replied. Growling inwardly, Shuichi focused not to curse the ice-cream shop they were in. And besides the annoying fox ears he had to wear, it was also filled with fluffy stuff. _'I can't believe this...'_

Botan frowned at the sarcasm hinted in his voice. It wasn't like she wasn't used to it. No, that wasn't the case. But it was obvious he was irritated to be there. That was the part she didn't get. Why? It's an ice-cream shop! How could anyone not like it? Her eyes then darted to the fox ears, staring at them for a few moments before an understanding look crossed her face. Oh, that's why!

She grinned teasingly. "Don't worry, Shuichi. I think you look great in them." When she saw a blush crept up to his cheeks – she didn't know it was because of embarrassment or anger, maybe both –, the grin was replaced by a howl of laughter.

He glared – but his cheeks were still slightly red. Oh god, this was so _freaking _embarrassing! Not to mention, the girl had the nerve to laugh at him after forcing him to wear this...this ludicrous thing! (okay, maybe it was the shop's fault but he also partially blamed her for it). "This is NOT funny, Botan!"

"Okay, it's not funny." Her laughter subsided as soon as she said that, and he mentally sighed in relief at this... only to have a vein popping at the back of his head when she once again laughed, but this time it was louder. "It's hilarious!"

"Botan, stop that annoying laughter at this instant!" he ordered, his face turning slightly redder when he noticed some of the customers there were now staring at them.

Unfortunately, Botan ignored him and just kept on laughing. This made him even more frustrated – and angrier – at her; the embarrassment was slowly mounting with each passing second he spent in the ice-cream shop (or Botan, anyway). "Stop it, or else..." Shuichi warned.

Botan immediately did as she was told to. If it was one thing she learned that day, it was not to annoy him when he said "or else". It was good that she listened to him, or else, she would probably be a whole mess of embarrassment right now. But then again, why did he have to be so short-tempered anyway? It was just fox ears! Cute, fluffy fox ears... She tried not to snicker at the thought.

Her eyes once again returned to the fox ears, this time staring at them a bit longer than she did before. Unbeknownst to her, the redhead noticed she was looking at the top of his head... or in this case, the annoyingly cute fox ears. His eyebrow twitched again when he realized she was probably going to stare at them for a long time. Well, usually, he wouldn't mind getting stared at, but the problem was that she wasn't staring at _him_, she was staring at _them_! The stupid fox ears!

"Botan," he called her name, his voice was calm but the underlying threatening tone was evident.

"What?" she answered back, her eyes still glued to the damned ears on his head.

A vein popped. For God's sake, look at him when he's talking to you, woman! Not the darn fox ears! "Botan!" he called a bit louder this time – but not as loud as to attract other customers.

Fortunately, the girl's eyes darted down from his head to his face and Shuichi immediately noticed. Wait, was that a frown? Was her eyebrows actually creasing? Hey, he should be the one frowning here! Not her! He was the one forced to deal with the embarrassment of having cute, fluffy, yet stupid and annoying fox ears on his head and practically stared at by many – did he forget to mention that Botan wasn't the only one goggling over his fox ears? Nearly every girls that were in the shop (or passed by the shop) were staring at him.

This was humiliating. Utterly humiliating.

"Will you stop staring at the goddamn ears? And stop frowning!"

Botan's creased eyebrows suddenly faded slowly and her expression became soft. "But, they're so cute!"

"They're not cute, they're annoying!" he shot back.

The azure-haired teen rolled her eyes. "Oh, please, Shuichi. You're just jealous!"

"Wha-?" It was now Shuichi's turn to frown, his emerald eyes in a pool of confusion as he stared at her. "Jealous?" he echoed. Why was she suddenly saying his jealous? Then he asked exactly what was on his mind, "Why would I be jealous?"

The intelligent reply was, "You're jealous because you want to be the center of attention! So you don't like it that people are staring at the cute ears instead of you!"

The confusion disappeared from his eyes and he was now staring at her as if she had two heads. "What? That will never happen!" he declared incredulously. Was she crazy?! Ha! No way he'd be jealous of a pair of stupid fox ears! Not even in a million years!

"Plus," he added and diverted his gaze to a group of girls who was swooning over him (and probably the fox ears, too), "if you haven't noticed, I'm always the center of attention."

"That's true," she agreed, nodding her head once. "But..."

"But what?"

"They're just ears! And we're not going to stay here, so it's not like you'll be wearing them for the whole day."

The redhead shuddered at the mention of him wearing the ears for the entire day at the park. He could already imagine how embarrassing that would be... Deciding not to dwell in his imagination anymore, he replied, "I know that but I still don't like them."

"Aww~" she gushed. "But they're so adorable!"

He heaved a loud, exasperated sigh, and slapped his forehead at her choice of words. Adorable? Okay, maybe they were. But that still didn't stop him from feeling embarrassed and pissed off! Turning his gaze to her, Shuichi spoke, "I DON'T LIKE THEM."

"Why not?" she asked before grabbing a hold on the cat ears on her head. "I like mine."

"Are you serious?"

Was it just Botan or did Shuichi sound like he thought she was insane?

"I think they're cute," she answered him, and returned her attention to her ice-cream – which was now melting.

The redhead was about to comment that she was being ridiculous but stop himself as he took in her appearance. He obviously didn't like the fact that he had to wear fox ears but he had to admit, he enjoyed the view of Botan wearing cat ears. It was...cute.

He stared at them for awhile before an idea popped in his head. A mischievous smirk tugged at his lips. He was going to bear with the embarrassment of being there at the shop with a pair of cute fox ears on his head, might as well have a little fun for himself, right? "Ne, Botan..."

The said girl lifted her head to look at him, gulping when he gave her the look he'd normally have on his face everytime he was about to say something she didn't like. She couldn't help but stutter, "W-what?"

"I think I like the cat ears," he started, and wriggled his eyebrows at her. "They make you look even more...alluring."

Blood immediately rushed to her cheeks. "W-what are you talking about?! They don't-"

She was cut off by Shuichi who said something Botan honestly had never wanted to hear in her whole life. "It makes me think if you have a cosplay fetish...in bed."

It took her only a few seconds before she finally understood the dirty meaning behind his sentence and she flushed deep red – whether it was red of anger or embarrassment, she didn't know (it could be both) –, pointing her spoon accusingly at him. "W-why you-!"

A low, husky chuckle escaped his lips, sending shivers down Botan's spine. "It's okay, Botan, we all have our kinks."

"I-I don't!" she denied, her blush deepening – she could've sworn she must've looked like a tomato now.

"You don't have to hide it from me, neko-chan." Botan shuddered, did he just call her 'neko-chan'? "I'm willing to satisfy all your needs, and that includes your cosplay fantasies."

That was it, Botan couldn't bear to stay there and listen to his 'dirty' talk, and kicked Shuichi's leg under the table, eliciting a pained groan from him. She took off the cat ears and began to walked away – more like stomped away – from the shop, forgetting about her melting ice-cream. She didn't care; she had to get out of there before the redhead decided to say anything else.

Shuichi, on the other hand, was walking behind her. A grin was plastered on his face and anyone could tell that he was happy to have the fox ears gone from his head. Whoo-hoo! Then his eyes darted to Botan who was walking in front of him, and a smirk immediately made its way to his face. He fast-walked so he could get a little closer to her and when he was close enough, his hand reached to grab Botan by the arm, surprising the girl and earning a small gasp from her.

The next thing Botan knew, Shuichi's arm was wrapped rather comfortably around her waist and her body was now pressed against his. Her cheeks turned red and she tried to break free but failed miserably as he, instead of letting go of her, decided to tighten his hold around her and automatically bringing her closer to him – if that was even possible. Her blush deepened at this and she shouted, "S-Shuichi! What are you doing!"

He grinned at her and cocked his head to the side. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

OMG! This was so wrong! Botan noticed people around them and in shops were looking at them. "L-let go! People are staring!" she yelped as she once again struggled to get free.

"Am I supposed to care?" he asked, the grin on his face widening a bit as he stared at the blushing girl in his arms.

"Uwaaah! You're hopeless!" she angrily yelled at him, shooting him a death stare. Oh god, this was embarrassing...

He laughed.

Botan got annoyed. "What are you laughing at?"

Shuichi smiled widely (wow, yeah I know, rare thing) in place of his laughter. "Because you're red."

"Wha-" Botan's deathly stare was replaced by a shocked beyond definitions face.

"It's because I'm hugging you, right? Do you know how incredibly amusing you are, Botan?" A small smirk lingered at the corner of the redhead's lips.

"Ah- Gryaaaaaaaaaa!" The azure-haired girl rubbed her face violently with her hand – probably thinking the redness would go away if she did that. Too bad for her, a blush wasn't a pencil and her hand wasn't an eraser. Too bad.

Shuichi chuckled silently at Botan's antics. "You'll hurt yourself."

"Aaaahhh!" Botan dropped her arm and looked at Shuichi with her ever so adorably flushed face. "You shut up! I'm not blushing! And stop touching me!"

He once again laughed. "You're funny, Botan-chan~"

"Wha-? Don't call me 'chan', you-" Her sentence was cut short as she finally realized that his lips was slowly getting nearer and nearer to hers. Was he actually trying to...? Botan panicked. No! Not in front of all these people! She tried to get away. "S-Shuichi, don't-!"

"Shuichi?"

Fortunately for Botan, he stopped in his movements, turning his face to the right with a slightly surprised face. She sighed in relief at this only to blink when she saw that something was wrong with the redhead. What was he looking at? And why did he look like he had just seen a ghost?

But then she heard the sound of liquid hitting to the ground, which was coming from the direction Shuichi was staring at. She looked, and saw a black-haired boy with his hair gelled, and a brunette girl was standing beside him, with their mouths agape and the boy's soda can was on its side and it was spilling on the ground... No doubt they saw the whole thing.

"H-hey, Yusuke, Keiko, what a pleasant surprise to see you here!" Shuichi said, his voice slightly shaky and he tried to look as calm as possible.

But Botan could obviously see the words "_Oh shit_" written all over his face.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. It belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi.**

**You're Not So Bad**

**Chapter 7**

Botan confusedly stared at the two strangers' surprised faces and couldn't help but wonder who they were. Shuichi seemed to know them, but as much as she wanted to ask him, she doubted this was the right time.

Another thought occurred to her.

Then again, if he did know who they were, that would mean that the redhead was now apparently caught red-handed hugging a girl and judging from the look on the other two's faces, they obviously had not expected they would ever see Shuichi in this kind of situation. Which meant that Shuichi had some...well, explaining to do.

Shuichi, on the other hand, was growing paler and paler with each passing second. Oh god, why now? Of all times, why now?! Not to mention, in front of Yusuke and Keiko! What was he supposed to do now? No doubt his two friends would ask him a lot of questions later on. He silently hoped they wouldn't though, because he didn't really know how to answer, but that chance was pretty slim.

He didn't notice he still hadn't let go of Botan though.

Keiko's shock died down sooner than Yusuke's did. Nodding her head slowly, her brown eyes now darted to the girl in Shuichi's arms. "Uh, nice to see you too, Shuichi..." Although the brunette was addressing to her friend, her gaze was still focused on the azure-haired teen. The only thing that went through her head was:

Who was she and why was Shuichi hugging her?!

But then, as soon as the shock died down from his system, Yusuke's look was replaced by a snicker. "Well, well, well! Now what do we have here!"

Shuichi wanted to slap himself.

He could already tell this wasn't going to end well for him...

He watched as the delinquent walked closer to where they were – completely forgetting about his now empty soda can. "I'm Yusuke Urameshi, one of Shuichi's best friends! And who might you be?"

Botan would've thought he was friendly if Yusuke hadn't wriggled his eyebrows at her.

Nonetheless, she still answered in what she hoped was a cheerful voice. "I'm Botan. It's nice to meet you!"

Yusuke nodded his head happily – too happily for Shuichi's own taste, if I might add. "Right, right." Turning his head to look at his girlfriend, Yusuke tilted his head to Shuichi and Botan, as if signaling that she should come closer. Keiko would've frown at his sudden change of behavior, but she knew him all too well and he probably had something in his mind, so she did as she was told to. After she was close enough, the delinquent let his arms slid around the brunette's waist and added, "And this is my girlfriend, Keiko. She's also Shuichi's friend."

Botan waved a hand at the other girl. "Hi, the name's Botan!" A big smile was plastered on her face as she said this.

Keiko smiled, nodding her head once. "Hello, Botan. Pleasure to meet you." Well, the girl seemed friendly enough, didn't she? Although she was taken by surprise when she saw Shuichi hugging someone, Keiko was actually starting to take a liking on Botan a bit. Oh, who knows! Maybe they would be close friends! The brunette couldn't help but gush – inwardly, of course – at the thought. That would be just great, wouldn't it!

"So, uh... What are you guys doing?" Wait, did that snicker on Yusuke face widen slightly?

For a fleeting moment, Botan saw Shuichi's face contorted in something between a frown and exasperated look but as fast as it had appeared, it was gone from her sight and the said boy was now sporting a smile on his face. But he didn't answer Yusuke's question; instead he just stood there with that smile and Botan, seeing as he wasn't going to, replied, "Um, hanging out...?"

Okay, that seriously didn't sound convincing.

"Yeah, sure you are..." Yusuke agreed, but Botan couldn't help but catch on the sarcasm dripping in his voice as he did. The delinquent averted his attention to the redhead. "So, I guess snuggling in public is called 'hanging out' for you, huh, Shuichi?"

Shuichi's smile twitched.

He opened his mouth to retaliate but was cut off by Keiko who apparently decided to say something that made him feel even more embarrassed. "Speaking of that, Shuich...uh...don't you think you should let go of her already?"

He had first blinked when those words left the brunette's lips but caught on what she meant when he darted his eyes to Botan. Blood immediately rushed to his face, and he quickly pulled away from her.

Shuichi then turned to look at his two friends with what he was hoping was a calm expression, but failed miserably as the blush only deepened slightly and he stuttered, "T-this is not what you guys think!"

"Right..." Keiko and Yusuke nodded their heads slowly, but the redhead could easily tell the sarcasm in their voices and not to mention, they were also sporting an equal sarcastic expression on their faces.

Shuichi wanted to bang his head against a wall.

Botan though, had her lips quirked up in amusement at the scene in front of her.

Oh, this was just hilarious. Utterly hilarious.

"You know Shuichi, I thought you were gay. I mean, you've never liked a girl before," Yusuke started and glanced at Botan for a moment before returning his gaze back to the other male. "But, I guess I was wrong."

"Yusuke! You're misunderstanding the whole thing! She's not my girlfriend!" Shuichi denied, waving his arms frantically.

"Uh-huh," Keiko nodded her head, "like anyone would believe that."

An exasperated groan. "Keiko!"

"You should've told us earlier that you have a girlfriend," the delinquent added.

"Yeah, it's not like we'd be angry if you did." And the brunette had apparently agreed.

"I told you, she's not my girlfriend!"

The both of them stared at him with sardonically. "Yeah, right."

Botan wanted to bang her head on the ground and laugh her soul out.

Shuichi's eyes visibly twitched. "Guys, please," he spoke, trying to sound as patient as possible but that was proven hard as his tone only sounded like he was ready to push someone off the building.

Probably Keiko and Yusuke.

The said couple just grinned at him, even though they had heard the pissed off tone he had used and was about to say something else but seeing the mixed exasperated and embarrassed look on their friend's face – they knew him well enough to know they should not push him too far, they decided to drop it off. Well, just for a while.

The gelled haired teen crossed his arms behind his head. "Anyway, I guess we'll stop talking about it," he said nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders and Shuichi heaved out a sigh of relief... only to groan when Yusuke teasingly added, "for now."

Shuichi resisted the urge to groan. "Oh, don't," he grumbled under his breath.

Keiko nodded her head vigorously. "Yeah! We'll continue this conversation later," she agreed and when she saw that her boyfriend was walking away, she followed him, "Let's just have fun, for now."

Shuichi once again sigh only to blink when the two of them stopped in their tracks and Yusuke shouted over his shoulder, "Hey, you guys coming or not?"

"Eh?" Botan pointed a finger to herself. "Does he mean me, too?"

"What do you think, genius?" he sarcastically responded, and before Botan could say anything else, Shuichi grabbed her hand in his and began to pull her with him as they sauntered over to where Yusuke and Keiko were.

* * *

><p>The first ride they went to was the carrousel. Well, not actually going there, it was only the first ride they happened to pass by to. The girls were been excited, Yusuke wanted to vomit while staring at the circling thing and Shuichi? Well, he just stared at it nonchalantly, and after mentally calculating the speed of the ride and realizing that it would give them no fun (except probably the girls), he backed out – along with Yusuke.<p>

After a while, Botan and Keiko got bored of the carrousel and decided to find something else to ride. While they were walking away from the revolving thing, Yusuke immediately noticed the ginormous Roller Coaster, and he grinned. For some reason, he wanted to see his poker faced friend, Shuichi scream like a scared little girl while riding that frightening thing.

"Hey guys, let's ride that one!" the delinquent exclaimed, wearing the most mischievous grinning face he could ever imagine and pointing at the 50 feet Roller Coaster. _'I want to see your soul abandon your body in mid-air, pretty boy!'_

Botan gushed. "Oh my gosh, I've always wanted to try that!"

"Yeah, me too!" Keiko agreed, and both girls jumped, going ballistic at the thought of riding it.

A sweatdrop formed at the back of Yusuke's head. Wow, girls really do go crazy when they're at parks, don't they... Deciding to ignore the squealing females, he turned his attention to the redhead. "What about you, Shuichi? You're gonna join us, right?"

Shuichi eyed the Roller Coaster for a few moments before looking at that same old nonchalant face. Then he grinned. "Sure."

Yusuke had the words "_What the hell_" written all over his face.

Why did he look calm when he said that?

_'I want to see the color drain from your pretty face, dammit!' _He thought in frustration.

Most people would wonder, Yusuke...are you really _that_ desperate to watch him scream?

Well, people, the answer is yes. Yes, he was.

"What are you waiting for, boys? Come on!" Botan giggled.

"If you're just going to stand there, then we're going to leave you, ya know!" Keiko playfully threatened.

After that, the two girls literally sprinted for the Roller Coaster.

A chuckle erupted from Shuichi's lips. "Okay, ladies!" With that said, he trudged over to where the ride was.

Yusuke muttered a string of curses under his breath, before staring – more like glaring – at his back. After a few moments of trying to burn a hole into the redhead's back, a smirk slowly found its way to his lips. _'Oh well, maybe you're not scared now but I'm sure you'll be screaming for your mommy soon!' _Insert evil laugh here.

* * *

><p>"I wonder what Botan-chan and Shuichi are doing..." Shiori said thoughtfully as she stared at her strawberry parfait.<p>

Yukio resisted the urge to slam his face on the table.

Really, his darling was nice... Almost perfect, even. But, at times he had to wonder if she would ever stop worrying about the two teenagers. It was almost as if every time they would go on a date, and leave Shuichi and Botan alone at home, she would always open the topic about the kids. Seriously, it was tiring to say the least. Not that he didn't like that she was worrying about them or anything – it showed him that she was a compassionate woman – but sometimes he'd get pretty annoyed by it because at times, it would cut the time of what he dubbed, "lovey-dovey time".

Despite that, he still answered her. "Darling, please stop fretting."

Shiori looked up from the parfait. "But, what if something happens?"

"Remember last time when you thought that? Nothing happened, right?" Yukio reminded her.

She tilted her head at the memory. "Yes, I remember that," then she frowned, "but what if something bad _really_ happens this time?"

"If that happens, I'm sure Shuichi can take care of himself, and Botan, too."

"I know that but, I can't help but worry about them..."

He smiled at her and reached for her hand, squeezing it and she looked at their joined hands before returning her gaze to him. "Listen, I'm sure Botan and Shuichi wants some time alone to themselves too, okay? Stop worrying, or you'll get wrinkles," he reassured her, jokingly adding the last sentence.

Shiori's face brightened but she playfully replied, "I already have wrinkles."

A small laugh escaped Yukio's lips at her words. "Maybe, but you still look beautiful to me."

She blushed beet red at the compliment, a shy smile slowly appearing on her face. "Oh, stop making me red!"

He once again laughed, but this time it was louder, and she playfully punched his shoulder.

* * *

><p>You all remember when Yusuke said Shuichi would scream like hell as soon as he got on the Roller Coaster?<p>

Well,

that didn't happen.

The redhead seemed like he enjoyed going on the ride very, very much really – heck, the delinquent had never seen his friend had this much fun before. And frankly, he didn't know if he was supposed to feel pissed off that the ride didn't manage to scare Shuichi or to feel glad that he was enjoying himself that much. Maybe it was the former, or the latter. Maybe both.

Also, Yusuke didn't know how many times they had gone on that ride already. Apparently, Shuichi seemed to be having too much fun and kept forcing them to go again and again – Yusuke backed out, of course, since he had decided that he had enough of the Roller Coaster after the third time. But the girls still joined Shuichi.

"Whoo-hoo!" Shuichi raised his arms in a sort of victory way and an expression of excitement and joy beyond definitions was on his face. "That is the best thing that I have ever experienced in my entire life!" Turning around to look at his two companions – Keiko and Botan, the redheaded genius went on, "Let's go again!"

The two females could've sworn they almost puked, their faces draining of color at what he suggested – well, not that much of a suggestion because he would pretty much force them again.

"I-I think I'll pass, Shuichi..." Keiko answered truthfully, her voice sounded slightly muffled, as if she was going to vomit any second. "I don't think I'm up for a seventh ride on that thing..."

Shuichi blinked at her, like he was wondering why she would even turn down another ride. But, he shrugged it off. Oh well, whatever. It didn't matter that much to him. Nothing was going to stop him though. So he turned his attention to Botan. "What about you, neko-chan? Are you coming with me?" He didn't know what got him into calling her with that name again, but he liked how it rolled off his tongue. Neko-chan, neko-chan, neko-chan...

Yusuke almost snickered at the nickname. Keiko, on the other hand though, would've heard it if it hadn't been from the barf that was going up her throat.

Botan ignored the nickname – as much as she was irritated that he brought it up, she didn't have the strength to yell angrily at him. It was obvious that she was tired of the Roller Coaster. If she could, she wanted to keep her mouth shut for the rest of the day – just to refrain herself from throwing up. Nonetheless, she forced out a retort, "Do I have to?"

His brows furrowed. "Do you have to? Does it look like you have to? Of course you have too, idiot! I'm not going to go on that ride alone, you hear me?"

Yusuke wanted to laugh when he heard Shuichi call Botan an idiot, but he was too surprised by it to even let his own lips quirk up. He just stared stupidly at his redhead friend. Did the usually calm Shuichi actually called someone – not to mention, a girl, too! – an idiot? It was surprising, really. It didn't take him long to recover from his shock though and a smirk slowly found its way to his lips. _'Ha-ha, this two must really be so close...'_

"What if I don't want to?" Botan stubbornly retaliated.

He was practically gawking at what she said but that look was soon replaced by an exasperated expression. "I don't care! You're still going on that thing with me!" As those words left his lips, Shuichi took Botan's hand in a death grip – so that she wouldn't run away – and began to literally drag her to the Roller Coaster.

It took the girl a few moments to comprehend what was happening. "E-eh? Eh? EHHHH?!" Her eyes widened in realization that Shuichi was actually dragging her back to that...that thing! Her face immediately paled at the thought of having to ride it again. Looking over her shoulder to Yusuke, she screamed bloody murder, "Yusuke! SAVE ME!"

And the delinquent would've felt sorry for her if he wasn't too busy laughing his heart out.

* * *

><p>"I hate you."<p>

Botan's words came out in a heated tone, her eyes glaring hotly at Shuichi. If only looks could kill... Oh, how she just wanted to burn him until there was nothing left but ashes! Well, maybe not literally, but the idea sounded tempting.

The redhead however, just pretended he didn't notice the death glares she was shooting at him. "Yeah, sure you do," he told her in a monotone voice.

She rolled her eyes and was about to make a smart remark only to pale visibly as the thought Roller Coaster moving in a fast speed suddenly came into her mind. Oh, what the hell? This was going to end soon, right? Might as well get it over with! Plus, it would move slowly at first, right? Right... _'Yeah, it's slow as shit at first but it'll go fast like hell soon, and when that happens...' _Botan didn't even want to think about it.

Instead, she darted her eyes to Shuichi who actually looked like...a 7 year old kid... _'Oh, wow. He's all serious when it comes to books but take him for a ride on the Roller Coaster, he'll be like a kid in a candy store.' _She sweatdropped at the thought.

But it was good...to see him have this much fun, Botan mused. Shuichi would rarely go out and even if he did, he would never enjoy himself that much. So, she guessed, maybe the whole Roller Coaster thing wasn't bad after all. On the bright side, it brought joy to the redhead next to her.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the thing started to move slowly and even though it hadn't even gone into fast speed yet; Botan could already feel as though she was going to throw up... Oh, it's coming up her throat... What the hell was she supposed to do now?! She didn't want to puke there! Oh god, it's trying to come out now... Ugh-

She immediately forgot about the barf that was practically trying to get out of her mouth when she felt a hand touched hers_. _It wasn't her other hand, so that meant the hand belonged to... Botan glanced at Shuichi – who had quickly looked away, which meant that he was already looking at her before she realized it.

"Shuichi...?" His name came out as a mere whisper.

The said boy stammered, "I-it's just that, um...you look like you're going to be sick so I-I...I...um..." For what reason was he acting like that, Shuichi himself didn't know. And although he didn't continue his sentence, she already knew what he was trying to say.

And she smiled. A soft, gentle smile. "You just notice that?" she playfully asked.

He scowled at her, but his actions differed the look on his face as he just tightened his grip around her hand. "W-whatever," he stuttered. Okay, he admitted it, he had been too overly excited that he didn't realize she looked as if she was ready to barf any second. But, he wasn't going to admit that to _her_, now would he? So, he let his ego take over. "It just took me some time to figure that, okay?"

A fit of giggles erupted from her lips, her voice sounding like music to his ears. "Egoistic jerk." Her face brightened slightly. "It's not that hard to figure out."

"Shut up, Botan. I'll strangle you myself if I have to," he threatened, trying to get her to keep her mouth shut. But her response wasn't what he expected; Botan entwined their fingers together, and a small smile was playing on her lips.

Her eyes then met his for what seemed like forever.

And as the Roller Coaster began to moved in a faster pace, he squeezed her hand.

* * *

><p>"Oi, Keiko."<p>

The addressed girl turned to look at her boyfriend with eyes slightly narrowed. **Now** was seriously not a good time to talk to her. She felt a bit sorry for Botan, having to go on a seventh ride on that...fast-paced, always-trying-to-make-people-puke thing. Those six rides she took on the Roller Coaster was starting to make her feel more than nauseous. She had vomited once, but it still felt as though she was about to throw up again.

And Yusuke wasn't helping her either, with his constant "Keiko"s. Keiko that, Keiko this. It was almost as if the delinquent was deliberately trying to worsen her condition by trying to get her to talk, which wasn't a good idea since she felt like the barf would come out of her mouth if she did that. Oh, goddammit, Yusuke! What more do you want from poor Keiko-chan?!

For a moment, she wondered if he was trying to get back at her for forcing him to try out that wedding stall...

But, hey! It wasn't that bad, or anything! She loved it very much, really. It was a fantastic experience for her. But then again, not for Yusuke...

Argh! Whatever!

"What do you want now, Yusuke?" she asked impatiently.

His eyebrows creased at the tone she was using. But, that frown immediately faded away as he thought of his wonderful plan... He snickered at the thought. Oh, he could already imagine their faces in _that _situation! "Their" as in Botan's and Shuichi's, of course.

Yusuke inwardly laughed evilly, but he tried to keep a straight face – he was far than successful when he just kept grinning though – and asked her back, "Remember that wedding stall we went to earlier today?"

An eyebrow arched at his direction. "What are you getting at?"

He glanced at the 50 feet Roller Coaster before returning his gaze to his girlfriend. "I have an idea..." A light smirk lingered at the corner of his mouth.

* * *

><p>"You want us to <strong>what<strong>?!"

Botan's piercing scream penetrated the two lovebirds' brains but Shuichi – who was pretty used to it by now – just ignored it.

Instead his emerald eyes were glued to Keiko and Yusuke, staring at them in a mix of confusion and shock. He couldn't believe they would even suggest that... His eyes quickly darted to Botan and the girl returned his gaze, before looking away with a deep blush on her face.

Shuichi sweatdropped.

How did it end up this way?

Well, let's just start from the beginning, shall we? Well, you see, after the Roller Coaster ride Botan and Shuichi took, the two teenagers went back to where the other two were but they had been greeted by the sight of a grinning Yusuke and a slightly trying-to-control-her-laughter Keiko. It had been bewildering to see their friends – of course, Botan had just met them that day, but seeing as the four of them spent some time at the amusement park together, I guess they could be counted as her friends, too – act so strangely all of a sudden.

But that confusion had died down as soon as Yusuke said something the both of them had honestly did not expect him to.

He told them to get married at the wedding stall.

It was a ridiculous idea. Completely ridiculous.

Botan was not going to participate in this at all. Especially when it was for other people's entertainment – "other people" here meant Yusuke and Keiko. No, she would not! She wasn't going to! Not even if they blackmailed her! Getting married with Shuichi, and not to mention at a wedding stall in an amusement park? No, no way ho zay! She wouldn't, she wouldn't, she wouldn't, she wouldn't-

"Okay."

_Huh?_

Botan gave Shuichi a weird look. "Are you fucking serious?"

He glanced at her for a fraction of a second, looked back at Yusuke and Keiko and answered her, "Relax, Botan, how bad could it get?"

She rolled her eyes while trying to focus on not to blush. For what reason she felt the blood rushing to her cheeks were beyond her knowledge. Why was she blushing?! Oh gawd... She tried to cover her red face by sarcastically retorting, "Oh, I don't know. Why don't you tell me? You're the genius here."

A glare was shot at his direction.

Somehow she felt her face was no longer burning.

"Botan, as if being sarcastic is going to help any of us in this situation."

"At least it gives me the satisfaction of venting my anger on _you_."

"Why are you letting out your frustration on me? It's their idea." Shuichi pointed a finger accusingly at Keiko and Yusuke and they sweatdropped.

"Yeah, but you just agreed to it!"

"I just thought we might as well get this over with. There's no use feeling irritated by it."

"I don't want to." Amethyst eyes narrowed slightly.

"Oh, please." Shuichi rolled his eyes. "Would you do me a favor and just get over this? It's not like it's the end of the world if we do this."

"Would you do _me_ a favor?"

An eyebrow arched. "What?"

"Go fuck yourself."

Botan expected to see a vein popping at the back of Shuichi's head but instead the redhead just gave her _that _look. Yes, that look. The look he'd always give her when he was going to say something perverted.

And he did.

"No thanks, Botan. I'd rather have a fuck partner, you get me?" He wriggled his eyebrows at her.

Somehow Shuichi forgot Yusuke and Keiko were there.

The couple stared at him with wide eyes and jaws dropped. What happened to the Shuichi they knew?!

A blush crept its way to Botan's cheeks at the dirty meaning behind his words.

"AGH! SHUICHI!"

* * *

><p>Botan seriously didn't know how the three got her to agree...<p>

But she did.

"This is unbelievable..." she uttered under her breath, staring back at her reflection in the mirror.

She was wearing off-white french lace gown with an empire waist and cap sleeves. The gown was slim fitted through the bust, waist and hips, making her curves look even more...er, noticeable. There was a rose pink velvet band at the empire waist, with a formed bow at the back of the dress. _'Well, at least I look...uh, pretty good.'_

Before she could take anymore time admiring herself in the mirror, Keiko came barging into the dressing room, wearing an excited smile on her face, as if she was the one getting married here.

Oh, wait.

Not that she was actually getting married, either.

This was only pretend.

. . .

God, this felt weird...

Not noticing the frown embedded on Botan's forehead, Keiko pulled her slightly by the arm, ushering her to walk with her and the girl did as she was told to. The brunette grabbed the doorknob, twisted it and Botan couldn't help but give an audible gulp.

Great.

Why was she feeling nervous now?

But as soon as she was out of the dressing room, Botan was greeted by the sight of a (probably) hundreds of people surrounding the wedding stall, an ear-to-ear grinning Yusuke and most astounding of all: Shuichi who stood proudly in his black Jos A. Bank groom clothes.

Oh god, help her... She almost swooned at the sight...

He was just so darn good-looking.

After a while of pretending as if they were in a _real_ wedding (they had even exchanged "I do"s, I think this prove just how far the park is willing to go just to have a grand opening), the words finally sounded:

"You may kiss the bride."

Shuichi reached out and trailed his fingertips gently down Botan's cheek, as their gazes locked. Ignoring the cheering crowd around them, Shuichi slowly brought his fingers to her chin, tilting her head up. His free hand tugged at her hair, fingers entangling around the silky sky-blue locks as his lips finally met hers in a short, simple kiss.

And for a moment, Shuichi couldn't help himself from thinking...

Short and simple...

Well, it wouldn't be just short and simple if they were alone...

He shook the thoughts out of his head, removed both of his hands from her hair and chin respectively, and smilingly stared back at her equal smiling face.

"See? That wasn't so bad, was it?"

Although his sentence sounded more like a statement than a question, the girl still replied, "Yeah, I guess," and her smile widened slightly.

* * *

><p>"I'm fucking bored as hell. Can't we all go back to my apartment now?"<p>

Yusuke crossed his arms behind his head, staring off into space with a nonchalant expression on his face.

Keiko glowered at him. "Oh, Yusuke Urameshi! We'll get back to your apartment soon enough! Will you just be patient!" she yelled angrily at him, a vein popping at the back of her head when the delinquent pretended like he didn't listen to what she said.

Shaking her head, Keiko mumbled, "Sometimes I don't know what I see him..." before turning her attention to Botan and Shuichi who were now back in their normal clothes. She was about to say something but cut herself off as she noticed, was Shuichi holding Botan's hand? Were they actually HOLDING HANDS?! If this had been the first time she had seen the two touch each other, she would've scream in her head. But it wasn't the first time so she just smiled inwardly. She then went back to what she was going to say, "You guys were great there!"

Botan scratched the back of her head, and sheepishly asked, "R-really?" Pink tinted her cheeks.

The brunette nodded her head vigorously as a form of agreement. "Yes, really!"

Shuichi, on the other hand, just smiled and without realizing it, his hand squeezed Botan's a bit – though the said girl didn't seem to be aware it either. "Thank you, Keiko," he thanked her, gaining her attention.

She giggled. "Oh, you're welcome, Shuichi! By the way, that kiss was just _so_ cute! Short, simple as it's supposed to be on weddings!" she complimented them even more.

Yusuke's voice chimed in. "But, ya know, I'm slightly disappointed that a hot make-out session didn't happen. Frankly, I was hoping there was going to be." He heaved out a sigh before turning to look at his redhead friend and his azure-haired companion, wriggling his eyebrows at them. "Why didn't you guys just kiss passionately right then and there? I'm sure it would've been an awesome show."

Keiko gawked at her boyfriend's choice of words. "Yusuke!" she indignantly cried out.

Botan and Shuichi could only sweatdrop as they watched the two lovers bickered with one another; the same thought went into their minds at that moment: Yusuke didn't know just how many times they had kissed hotly before.

With that thought, the both of them turned their heads to look at each other simultaneously. Botan blushed beet red, and looked away but Shuichi just grinned, amused by her antics.

"Oi, Botan!"

Hearing her name called, the said girl averted her gaze from the ground to Yusuke. "Wha-?"

Before she could even finish the first word that came out of her mouth, the delinquent cut her off, "Wanna go to my apartment? And don't worry, your 'boyfriend' is gonna be there, too," he teasingly added the last sentence, a snicker tugging at his lips.

Ignoring Yusuke's last sentence, Botan asked him in uncertainty, "Are you sure it's okay? I don't want to be a trou-"

"Trouble?" Keiko seemed to already know what the other girl was trying to say without her finishing it. "Nah." She waved a hand in front of her face. "You're not going to be any trouble to anyone. Any friend of Shuichi's is a friend of ours."

"Yeah...'girlfriend'..." Yusuke decided to change the brunette's words a bit. Keiko didn't even acknowledge him though and just smiled at Botan.

The azure-haired teen smiled back at her, though she was trying hard to ignore the weird glances Yusuke kept giving her and Shuichi. "Oh, I guess it's okay, then."

As instantly as Botan had agreed, Yusuke and Keiko gave her a smile before continuing to walk out of the park, with Botan and Shuichi following closely behind them.

"So," Shuichi started and Botan darted her eyes to him.

"So?"

"That was a wonderful wedding, I must admit." A smile was planted on his face as he stated that.

The smile, which was never gone from her face, broadened a bit at his words. "Sure, I'll agree to that." She nodded her head once.

There was a comfortable silence after that.

Botan couldn't stop herself from smiling. This moment they shared...it was fantastic. Nothing was going to ruin it, she was sure of that. She was completely sure of – oh wait, scratch that, Shuichi had entirely ruined it.

"Anyway, since we're practically husband and wife now, want to make a baby?"

Her hand squeezed his in a death grip.

"In your dreams, Shuichi."


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. It belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi.**

**You're Not So Bad**

**Chapter 8**

"What the hell?!"

Shuichi, Botan and Keiko couldn't help but blink as they heard the sudden ear-piercing shout. Yusuke had gone into his room before they did (saying something about cleaning up some of his stuff), and as instantly as the door was closed, he had suddenly screamed as if he saw a ghost.

"What was that all about?" Botan wondered.

The brunette shrugged her shoulders. "Don't know."

Shuichi stared at the door for a while, as if he was thinking of something, before rotating his head to the left to look at the two girls. "Shall we check, ladies?"

Meanwhile inside of Yusuke's room . . .

Yusuke could've sworn he had never been so surprised in his whole life. His brown eyes stared stupidly at the three people sitting rather comfortably in his room – an exception for a certain someone who was sitting on the windowsill. He had not expect to come home to be greeted like this! And where did they get the keys anyway?!

Hiei sneered at him. "Stop looking at me like that, you look like a clown."

Kuwabara's voice chimed in. "For your information, he's not looking at only you, shorty! Stop being so narcissistic!"

To Kuwabara's utter annoyance, Hiei just ignored him.

A vein visibly popped and the carrot-top pointed a finger accusingly at the shorter male. "Hey, it's rude to pretend you're not listening when people are talking to you!"

"You're not worth listening to, you buffoon."

"What did you say?!"

A dark chuckle escaped Hiei's lips.

Kuwabara felt his anger mounting and he stood up from the floor, literally stomping to where Hiei was, but before he could take another step, Yusuke's voice stopped him, "Will you guys just quit it? And what the fuck are you people doing in my apartment?" and he turned his attention back to his delinquent best friend – completely forgetting the fight that had almost occurred between him and Hiei.

. . .

Outside of the room, the other three were listening intently to the voices inside. They knew it wasn't good to eavesdrop but they couldn't help but let their curiosity got the best of them, so they decided to do it anyway.

"I guess the whole gang is here..." Keiko mumbled to no one in particular. Shuichi hummed in response and Botan...well, Botan's face was drained of color at the thought of other people she didn't know being there. Oh god, she was starting to feel anxious...

"The whole gang? You mean your other friends?" Botan asked, her voice shaky.

Keiko seemed to catch on the tone in the other girl's voice and rotated her head to the right to look at the said girl with a small, reassuring smile placed on her lips. "Oh, don't worry, Botan. I'm sure they will like you."

"Yeah, but what if they don't?"

Shuici decided to butt in. "My friends are not unwelcoming to new people, so you don't have anything to fret over."

"But..."

"No buts," he ordered sternly, staring at her with those piercing emerald eyes of his. "Plus, it wouldn't be so bad if you get to know more people."

Keiko nodded her head as a form of agreement. "Yeah, Shuichi's right, you know."

Botan was unresponsive for a few seconds before she finally spoke. "I-I guess..." Then she quickly added, "I'm still going to hide myself first though."

The other two sweatdropped at her words.

She wasn't going to do that for real, right?

. . .

Yukina gave Yusuke a sweet smile. "We just thought we should visit."

"Is that a crime?" Shizuru added with a cigarette placed between her lips.

The delinquent scowled. "It is when you break into someone's house or apartment!"

"We didn't break into your apartment, Urameshi," Kuwabara retorted, before tilting his head slightly. "Your door wasn't locked."

Yusuke blinked, the scowl vanishing from his face.

_Oh. _

A toothy grin now lingered at the corner of his mouth, and Yusuke scratched the back of his head, suddenly feeling a bit embarrassed. "Right. I guess I forgot to lock the door. Right, right..."

The others – except Yukina – rolled their eyes.

. . .

"What? He didn't lock the door? Again?" Keiko said incredulously. Oh, Yusuke was just so hopeless! She couldn't believe how many times he had already forgot to lock the door to his apartment.

Shuichi let out an awkward laugh, "It seems so," and was about to say something else, but was cut short as Keiko opened the door to the room, before slamming it shut again.

. . .

"Gawd, I can't believe I forgot to lock..." Yusuke didn't manage to finish his sentence when Keiko's voice suddenly reached their ears.

"Again." She entered the room and crossed her arms. That was it, she wasn't going to take his irresponsible-ness anymore; she wasn't going to stand outside and listen to their conversation. She was going to say what was on her mind, even if Yusuke didn't want to listen to what she had to say. Speaking of her boyfriend, why was he looking at her as if she had just gone out from the mental hospital? Oh, right. He was probably shocked that she was eavesdropping. Well, not like she wanted to but she had no choice now, did she?

"You forgot to lock. _Again_," she repeated.

The shock had somehow died down and Yusuke could practically guess where this was going and raised his arms up in defeat, "Okay, Keiko, I get it," assuming that she would leave him alone if he did that.

But she still went on, "I can't believe you, you are so irresponsible. What if someone other than our friends came in and robs you? It's a relief that they're the ones who found your door unlocked before anyone else could." As instantly as those words left her lips, she shook her head.

The delinquent was starting to feel as if he was cornered. "Fine, fine! I get it, okay?"

Keiko continued to ignore him. "I know that ever since your mom got married, you've been living here by yourself, and I know that it's hard for you, but you have to start acting like a matured adult."

One of Yusuke's eyebrows twitched. When was the woman going to shut up?! "Oh great, girlfriend of the year..." he muttered sarcastically under his breath, obviously thinking that his voice was low enough so Keiko wouldn't hear him.

Unfortunately she did.

And she shot a glare at him. "I'm only worrying about you, Yusuke!" she told him but he just nodded his head absent-mindedly, waving a hand in front of his face and mumbling a, "yeah, yeah...".

A loud, exasperated sigh erupted from Keiko's lips. "Maybe I should move in..."

Yusuke panicked as if the idea of his brunette girlfriend living him was as bad as the end of the world. "Are you kidding me?! No fucking way! If you live here, then my life will be a living hell!" He then turned around, shuddering and not seeing the angry red face Keiko was sporting.

"Oh, stop overreacting!" she yelled indignantly. "I wouldn't want to live here if you would've been more responsible!"

The delinquent looked at her with a pissed off expression on his features. He opened his mouth to shout back at her but cut himself short as Shuichi opened the door (he didn't close it back though, he just stood there at the door).

At that precise moment, Shuichi felt a hand gripped the back of his shirt, followed by the feeling of hot breath. For a moment, he blinked before inwardly smiling as he realized that Botan was hiding behind him. He seriously didn't expect her to actually hide herself for real, but, oh well, he pretty much enjoyed the feeling of her body pressing against his back, so he didn't mind. The girl was pretty amusing though; he couldn't help but want to laugh but he resisted the urge to and pretended he didn't notice her.

Shuichi then agreed with Keiko's suggestion, "I think Keiko's idea is great, Yusuke."

The said boy groaned. "Oh please, not you too..."

"And I have to agree with Keiko, Yusuke. I know you're not much of a responsible person, but you should start acting like one, especially since your mother has already moved out," the redhead said matter-of-factly.

"I _will_ be," Yusuke promised. "But _she_ doesn't need to move in." He pointed a finger at Keiko, earning an exasperated cry from her in return.

A sweatdrop formed at the back of Shuichi's head. "I want to believe you, Yusuke, but I don't think that's going to be happening anytime soon."

"Ouch." Yusuke winced, knowing what his redheaded friend said was true. "That hurts."

Shuichi grinned at his words. "I know it is rather mean, but it is the truth. And I only speak the truth."

The delinquent shrugged his shoulders, before an ear-to-ear grin found its way to his lips. "Yeah, but you do lie, too."

A chuckle. "I suppose so, but only on a few occasions."

Deciding that he should change the topic, he looked at the brown-haired woman and the green-haired girl sitting beside her. "Anyway, it's been a long time since I've seen you two, Yukina, Shizuru." He nodded his head at the two girls, a smile tugging at his lips.

Yukina smiled widely. "Yes, because it seems you're always so busy."

"Busy being anti-social," Shizuru interrupted. "He just sits there in his house, reading books."

The sea-green haired girl giggled. "Well, I can't really say I don't agree with that, Shizuru."

Shizuru heaved out a loud sigh, turned her attention to Shuichi and advised him, "You should go out more often, I know you like books and studying but, don't let them keep you away from friends, okay?"

Shuichi gave her a small smile in return. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Forget Shuichi, shorty's more anti-social than he is," Kuwabara objected, sending a death glare at Hiei as he said this, but the shorter male just snorted.

"Well, they _are_ best friends," his sister started, "so I think they're a perfect combination."

"Not really. Hiei's too arrogant for his own good and Shuichi's just so nice." The carrot-top paused, suddenly remembering the day they went to the arcade and how the redhead had nearly whacked the machine. "Well, maybe not that nice."

Shizuru gave him a weird look, wondering what he was talking about and was even about to ask what he meant, but she didn't manage to get another word out of her mouth when Yusuke suddenly denied, "Hey! Shuichi's not really anti-social, you know! He's gone out, maybe, a couple of times already this week!"

"Eh? Really?" Yukina asked, surprised to hear the new information.

"Yeah," Yusuke answered her. "He went to an arcade with us before, and you know that new amusement park that just opened today?" He got a nod from the others – an exception for Hiei, Keiko and Shuichi of course. "He went to check it out, too! And believe me, I may be an idiot sometimes, but I could tell he had a whole lot of fun there."

Kuwabara didn't seemed surprised when he heard about the arcade – since he was also there – but the mention of Shuichi going to the park was new. "He seriously had fun?" he asked, as if he wanted to make sure it was true only to blink when Keiko and Yusuke nodded their heads vigorously at him. "Oh..." He let the fact sink in before continuing, "it's not everyday we see him enjoy himself."

Shizuru, on the other hand, just smirked slightly. "So the pretty boy isn't that anti-social, after all."

Keiko added, "But he doesn't go out enough, either. He's probably not that much of an anti-social, but it's still rare to see him out of his house."

A whispers of "true, true" immediately sounded in the room, and Shuichi couldn't help but twitch his eyes. Why were they talking about him like he wasn't even there?! Suddenly he felt as though he was a wall... Hey, he existed! So talk like he was there, dammit! How annoying.

Shuichi then decided to butt in the conversation – most likely to say how he was still there and how they weren't supposed to act like he was just a statue – but before he could even utter a word, Yukina asked all of a sudden,

"By the way, Shuichi, who's that girl hiding behind you?"

Oh,

did they notice Botan already?

The said girl almost jumped at the question. Oh god, did that sweet-looking green-haired girl had to realize she was there? For a moment, she considered running away but stopped herself when another thought occurred to her. Then again, it wasn't like she was going to hide for the rest of the day, right? So she might as well show herself now. Plus, Shuichi and Keiko said it was great if she got to know more people, right? So, maybe this wasn't going to be so bad...

Heaving out a sigh, Botan finally stepped aside from Shuichi's back and waved weakly as the others – even Hiei – stared at her. "H-hello... I'm Botan, it's nice to meet you all."

Yukina's face brightened. "Hello there, Botan!" She waved back. "I'm Yukina, and it's nice to meet you, too," the smaller girl introduced herself, a smile lingering at the corner of her mouth.

The brown-haired female then spoke, "Shizuru, and this," she pointed to the carrot-top sitting at her left, "is my little brother, Kazuma."

"Or, you can call me Kuwabara, if you want," Kuwabara added, and smiled at Botan.

She smiled back, somehow she wasn't feeling as nervous as she was earlier. "Kuwabara it is then!" she said, her voice sounding more cheerful this time. Her amethyst eyes then turned to Hiei, waiting for him to tell her his name but he just kept his mouth shut and stared at her. Seeing that he wasn't going to say anything, Botan asked, "And you are?"

Hiei stopped staring, and rolled his crimson eyes, now averting his gaze to the glass window. "I don't see why I need to tell you who I am."

Botan frowned at his words, and opened her mouth to tell him that he was being rude but was cut off by Yukina, "Now, that isn't really nice, is it, big brother?" Her own crimson eyes looked sternly at him, and Hiei couldn't help but flinch.

Oh wait, they were siblings? No wonder they looked similar... But then again, Botan mused, the girl was far friendlier than he "big brother" was...

He shot Botan a glare – Botan nearly jumped at this ('_Why is he glaring at me?! I didn't do anything!'_) – and forced out his name, "Hiei."

"O-okay, Hiei...it's a pleasure to meet you."

The short teen just replied with a, "Hn."

A sweatdrop formed at the back of Botan's head, and was about to ask him why he was acting so cold, only to blink when she felt a hand grabbed her right shoulder. She then looked at the owner, and saw Shuichi smiling softly at her.

"It's okay, he's like that. You'll get used to it soon enough." Oh, it seemed Shuichi caught on what she was thinking. Though it wasn't that surprising; he was, after all, a real genius.

Botan slowly nodded her head, "O-oh..." and she couldn't help the blush that made its way to her face. Oh god, why was she red? He was just Shuichi, right? Right? He was no one special, but... Then, she felt his hand gripped her shoulder considerably, causing her blush to deepen a bit. It was just a simple touch, yet...

Argh! Damn it, Shuichi! Stop making her feel weird!

Shuichi was well aware of her red face, his eyes glinted in amusement, and a low chuckle erupted from his chest. "Why are you blushing. Botan?"

Botan's eyes widened slightly at his words and she swiftly pulled his hand away from her shoulder. "I-I'm not blushing!" Denial!

"How cute, now you're stuttering, too."

"I-I'm not stuttering!" she denied once again, trying to sound calm but failed miserably as her sentence, once again, came out in a stutter.

He laughed, and she blushed harder.

The others seemed to notice their little 'moment' and blinked, their eyes in a pool of bewilderment as they watched the two. Keiko and Yusuke though, just snickered as they were already used to seeing Shuichi and Botan behaving as they were now.

Shizuru's confusion died down sooner than the others'. "Anyway, why were you hiding?" she asked, referring to the azure-haired girl.

Botan's flushed face disappeared and she turned to look at the older woman with a sheepish grin on her face. "W-well, y-you see..." but she didn't manage to continue as Shuichi suddenly interrupted her,

"She was scared of meeting you guys, that's why."

"Hey! I wasn't scared, I was nervous!" Botan corrected him.

The redhead decided to pretend he didn't hear her, and just looked away.

Shizuru, Yukina and Kuwabara burst into a fit of laughter – whether it was the way Shuichi and Botan seemed close, or the fact that Botan hid herself because she was anxious that made them wanted to laugh, they didn't know. But they did anyway.

"Don't worry, little missy. We don't bite," Shizuru joked, giving Botan a playful wink, which earned her a small laugh in return.

Kuwabara's laughter subsided, and he questioned, "Did you guys meet at the park or something?" The question was meant for the four of them – Shuichi, Botan, Yusuke and Keiko – but it sounded more as if he was referring Yusuke than the other three.

The delinquent smirked slightly. "Me and Keiko saw these two," he pointed at Botan and Shuichi, "hugging in public."

The intelligent he got from his carrot-top friend was, "Eh?"

As soon as he said that, Yusuke and Keiko immediately started laughing their hearts out – both at the memory of Shuichi holding Botan in his arms and Kuwabara's stupid response –, clutching their stomachs and tears could obviously be seen in their eyes.

Yukina blinked.

And Shizuru smirked. "I thought so," she said, turning to look at the two now blushing teens. "So, you guys are together~"

"N-no!" The two denied simultaneously, before blinking and looking at each other, their blush deepening slightly as their eyes met.

When she saw the others snickering at this from the corner of her eye, Botan decided to break off the eye contact and waved her arms frantically. "You got it all wrong! Shuichi and I are not dating."

"Uh-huh, that sounds really convincing."

Shuichi and Botan blinked. Did they detect a hint of sarcasm in Shizuru's voice?

"Stop denying it, you guys," Kuwabara teased.

Yukina nodded her head. "Kazuma's right. Just admit it, you two are a couple."

Shuichi could've sworn his face was as red as a tomato right now. "We're not!"

"Oh? Then what are you to each other then?" Shizuru challenged.

Botan's and Shuichi's red expressions were now replaced by looks of befuddlement as they let her words sink in. Yusuke and Keiko had even stopped laughing to hear what they had to say. What were they to each other? To be frank, they didn't know. They were certainly not girlfriend and boyfriend but they were also obviously not just friends. Neither knew how to answer, really.

After a few moments of staring back at the others, Shuichi let a loud sigh escaped from his lips and finally explained, "Botan and I know each other because...well, our parents are dating and we're somehow supposed to live together now so... I guess we've spent a lot of time together, and we're close, perhaps. And I admit, we've kissed and touched each other on more than a few occasions but, we've never dated."

Silence engulfed the room for a few seconds before Yusuke decided to break it off with a, "If you guys aren't dating, then why are you kissing?"

The both of them froze. Okay, now how was they supposed to answer THAT?! They exchanged glances, as if asking each other what to say, but neither of them had an answer to the difficult question.

Another silence.

Once again, Yusuke spoke, "Never mind, let's just play something. We can't just sit here, doing nothing right?"

He decided not to pester Botan and Shuichi for a while. He would ask Shuichi later. He didn't care to ask Botan because judging from the look his girlfriend was sporting on her face, he could practically know that she was planning to get answers from Botan. So, seeing as Keiko was going to, why should he bother asking her? Plus, maybe it would be easier for Botan to tell her, instead of him. Keiko was a girl, after all, and girls can easily share their secrets, right?

"I know!" Kuwabara's face brightened up, excitement was clearly in his eyes as he suggested, "Let's play Truth or Dare!"

This gained the other's attentions; Yukina and Shizuru grinned at this, Hiei just rolled his eyes, while Keiko sweatdropped and Yusuke groaned at the mention of the game.

Last time Yusuke played it with his friends, it didn't end really well. The memory of him walking around town in nothing but his boxers flashed in the delinquent's mind... And not to mention, the people also gave him weird looks... He shuddered, and decided not to think of it anymore.

Shuichi smiled, a bit relief that the topic of Botan and him was no longer discussed and agreed, "Yes, that will be fun," only to sweatdrop at the death glares Yusuke was now shooting at his direction.

"No way ho zay! I am not going to play that twisted game again! No, no, no!" Yusuke dramatically shouted.

"Oh, come on, Urameshi! It's not that bad!" Kuwabara told him.

"'It's not that bad'? As if..."

"It's just a game!"

"I said, no way, Kuwabara!"

"Wuss!" Kuwabara shot back, which earned him a glare from Yusuke.

"What did you call me?!"

Keiko decided to stop the mouth-war before the two could even start a fist-fight. "Seriously, guys? Stop fighting with each other, or else..." she threatened, with a scary expression on her face.

Both males grumbled under their breaths at the brunette's warning, and kept their mouths shut as they were told to. They seriously didn't want to piss off Keiko any further, knowing the girl had enough nerve to slap the both of of them despite the fact she was as cute as any other girls were.

As soon as Kuwabara and Yusuke shut up, a squeal was heard coming from Botan, "I want to play Truth or Dare! I know how the game goes but I've never played it before."

The others stared at her incredulously.

"Never?" Shizuru asked again, trying to make sure if she heard right.

She got a nod as a response.

They could hardly believe it. Botan had seriously never played it? Not even once in her entire life? Wow... Now, that was new. But then again, maybe this was a good chance to let her have her first Truth or Dare experience, right?

"We'll play it then," Shuichi said, nodding his head once.

Botan wanted to dance in joy at his words, but resisted the urge to and just stared at him with excitement clearly written all over her face. "Really?"

He answered her with another nod of his head, his lips quirked up in a small smile. It was his first time seeing her look so thrilled. It was as if he was looking at a five year old kid... And honestly, she looked really cute with those sparkling, overjoyed amethyst eyes of hers and that almost too big smile.

Yusuke, who was first against the idea of playing the game in the first place, finally decided to agree. Oh what the hell? Maybe it wouldn't end as bad as it had before. Besides, he would also practically be giving Botan a new experience, so they might as well just get on with it. "Fine with me."

Kuwabara made a face, and Yusuke noticed it, glared at the carrot-top and snapped, "What?"

"You change your mind pretty quickly, don't you?"

"Oh, shut up, Kuwabara! You want me to play or not?"

Kuwabara rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay..." He was about to make a smart remark at Yusuke only to shut himself up as Yukina suddenly began to clap her hands, her voice excited. "Oh, I can't wait," she squealed, turned to look at Kuwabara, and tilted her head at him. "Isn't this going to be fun, Kazuma-kun?"

"Oh, of course, Yukina-chan! Especially when you're playing, too!"

Shizuru heaved out a sigh. Oh, there her brother goes again, flirting with poor, little naive Yukina. They had known each other for a rather long time now, and her little bro Kazuma had never given up on trying to win Yukina's heart. Unfortunately, Yukina didn't know much about love, so... A sweatdrop appeared at the back of her head.

She shook her head slightly before turning to look at the short male sitting on the windowsill. "What about you, Hiei?"

Hiei didn't even bother to look back at her and just scoffed, "I hate games, it's for children."

Shuichi suddenly interrupted, a grin plastered on his lips. "I like games, Hiei. They're fun."

"Then, you are a child for thinking games are _fun_. Kicking someone's ass, and making fun of Kuwabara, that's what I call fun."

The redhead sweatdrop at his best friend's words, looked over his shoulder for a moment – Kuwabara didn't hear what Hiei said though, since he was busy bickering with Yusuke over something (not that it was a bad thing) – before averting his eyes back to Hiei, "Why don't you just join us for once?"

"Minamino," he started, a hint of annoyance evident in his tone and crimson eyes twitched visibly. "What part of 'I hate games', don't you understand?"

"Well, Hiei..."

He didn't manage to finish his sentence as Yukina butted in their little 'conversation, "Let's just play it, big brother. I think it'll be fun." Hiei seemed reluctant to accept her offer at first, but then he saw his sister doing that puppy-eyes look of hers again, and gave up. How could he say no to that cute face anyway?

"Fine."

"Yay!" She once again clapped her hands, pleased that he agreed.

Meanwhile, Botan was practically dancing around the room now – apparently she had decided to stop trying to hold back her happiness. Oh, this was going to be the best thing that would ever happen to her! She couldn't wait, she couldn't wait, she couldn't wait-

Shuichi's voice reached her ears. "As much as I enjoy playing Truth or Dare, the game is a bit wicked, in its own way." After those words left him, he shot her a crooked grin and evilness was clearly written in his eyes. Evilness, I tell you!

Oh, whatever! She should just ignore Shuichi. He was just trying to scare her, and she would not fall for it. No, she would not. She would not, she would not-

"Last time we played, Yusuke ended up walking in the streets with nothing but his boxers to cover him."

Okay, maybe she would.

Botan was slowly starting to regret being excited before, and was about to back out when Keiko reassured her, "Don't worry. Trust me, Botan, you'll have fun. Don't listen to Shuichi," and the brunette shot Shuichi an 'I-can't-believe-you're-trying-to-scare-her-off' glare.

But he pretended he didn't see it, and whistled a tune, to keep himself look as if he was busy.

Botan wasn't convinced. "Really?"

"Yes, I mean it." Keiko smiled, hoping if she did, the other girl wouldn't back out from the soon-to-be-happening game.

"I don't know if I can believe you, Keiko..."

"Well, just believe me. I'm not lying to you."

The azure-haired girl pondered if she should for a few moments, before finally letting a smile appear on her lips and nodded her head. "Okay then, I believe you."

"I'm glad you are, and besides, why would I lie to you anyway?"

* * *

><p>Keiko lied to her!<p>

_''Why would I lie to you', my ass...' _Botan thought grudgingly, as she shot a certain brunette a death glare.

And that certain brunette seemed to notice the angry look Botan was sporting on her face, but she just grinned though. Botan's scowl deepened considerably at this. Oh, how she just wants to wipe that stupid grin off of Keiko's face...

They had been giving each other dares and asking a few truths question, when it was Keiko's turn and the brunette had decided to dare her to put her panties on her head, and Botan suspected the others (specifically Shuichi) was enjoying the view very, very much.

"So, Botan," Shuichi's voice interrupted her thoughts and she turned to look – more like glare – at the redhead who was conveniently sitting beside her, "having fun?" He wriggled his eyebrows at her, a small smirk tugging at his lips.

Her left eyebrow twitched. "Shut up, Shuichi," she snapped, her voice threatening.

A low chuckle erupted from Shuichi's lips. "I told you this game was dangerous."

"I said, shut up."

"But you never listen to me, huh?"

Botan's icy stare worsened. "I swear, if you don't shut up, I'll kill you."

"How many times have you already said that, but never do it anyway?" Shuichi mocked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"I'll kill you for real this time."

"Is that so? I can't wait."

The azure-haired girl let out an exasperated cry; she was bordering on pulling her hair out of their roots. "God, I hate you."

Shuichi burst into a fit of laughter at her words, and automatically adding more fuel to her already pissed off state of mind. She once again shot another death glare – this time at Shuichi. Damn that annoying redheaded pretty boy!

Shizuru joined in the laughter. "You know, Botan, instead of venting your wrath on Shuichi, might as well let it out on Keiko there," she blurted out, pointing her thumb at the said brunette, who was trying hard to hold back her laugh.

"Yeah, she's the one who made you put your underwear over your head," Shuichi agreed, faking a hurt expression. "I can't believe you would even target little old me. I even felt sorry for you for having to do this."

Botan glowered at him. "Sure, as if you're not entertained by this, either," she retorted sarcastically. Sorry? Yeah, right.

She expected a smart remark for him, but he just gave her another one of his all-too familiar seductive smirk, his emerald eyes glinting with mischief. Oh, great, it's that look again...

"Yes, I suppose you are correct," he started, and Botan shuddered. God, she hated it when he sounded so...seducing like that. "I do love the view, I never thought you were the one to wear those kind of panties."

As if her condition wasn't bad enough, Shuichi decided to worsen it by staring straight at the top of her head – or should she say, the pink, lacy panties placed comfortably on her head – to emphasize his point.

Blood immediately rushed to her cheeks. Did he have to be such a pervert?! And not to mention, in front of his friends whom she just knew that day, too! Speaking of his friends, they were all ogling with wide eyes at the redhead. Well, except for Keiko and Yusuke who had already seen this kind of moment between Shuichi and Botan. The same thought went through their heads: Was THAT really Shuichi?

Neither seemed to realize the weird looks they were getting from their friends though.

"W-why you-! You disgusting pervert!" Botan cried out indignantly, pointing a finger accusingly at Shuichi, earning an unexpected wink from him, and she gawked at him. Why couldn't she just take the underwear off her head? This was embarrassing. Utterly humiliating. _'I can't believe the day when I get to know a lot of people, end up with me wearing my pink garments on my head!'_

Yusuke was well aware of the pink tinting his azure-haired friend's face, and he could tell that it was from the embarrassment of having a few people she barely knew yet, staring at her panties. So, he tried to make her feel better for a bit. "Relax, Botan," he sounded, raising his arms up in the air, "be glad Keiko didn't dare you to wear your underwear while dancing some stupid dance, or something."

But, instead of making her feel better, he accidentally succeeded on ticking her off even more when Keiko suddenly punch a fist at the palm of her hand, and said something Botan honestly did not expect to hear for her. "Aw, man! I should've dared her to do that!"

Botan's eyes widened in terror at the brunette's words. She could already imagine herself wearing her underwear while doing a dance like Gangnam Style, or something... She decided not to dwell on her imagination, and shuddered. '_Don't plant those weird thoughts in my head, ever again!'_

To her utter horror, her so-called friends – even sweet, little Yukina – started laughing their souls out. Oh, what 'good' friends she have... Botan blushed beet red – both in embarrassment and anger – and decided that she had enough of getting humiliated about her panties. She stammered, "A-anyway!" and gaining the others' attentions, their laughter subsided as they looked at her (but, there were annoying grins on all their damn annoying faces). "It's my turn now."

She then averted her gaze to Hiei – who had decided to sit in the middle of Kuwabara and Yukina (something about not letting "the oaf" flirting with his dear sister). "So, um... Truth or Dare, Hiei?"

The spiky-haired male smirked. "Dare me, woman."

"Great!" she clapped her hands once, rubbing them against each other. Oh, she was SO going to have her own entertainment on what was going to happen next. '_MUAHAHA! I'll wipe that confident smirk off your face!'_. She grinned evilly and exclaimed, "I dare you to kiss Kuwabara!"_  
><em>

The smirk vanished from his face exactly like she wanted it to, and contorted into a disgusted look. "The oaf?!"

"Hey!" Kuwabara shouted. "You have something against making out with me or something, you little mouse?" He didn't realize what he had blurted out until the others made a face at him and he panickedly added, "Not that I want you to!"

"Come on, Hiei." Yusuke grinned. "Just do it."

The said male shot a glare at his delinquent 'friend', the sounds of giggling coming from the girls (that includes his own sister) reaching his ears and he could practically see the smirk that was plastered on Shuichi's lips at the corner of his eye.

"Well, Hiei?" This time he glared at Shuichi. "What are you waiting for?"

Hiei muttered a few string of curses before shooting a death glare at Botan's direction, hoping that he was scaring her off but the girl just smirked in victory at him."I'll kill you," he threatened, before looking back grudgingly at Kuwabara, and pulled the carrot-top's collar.

Kuwabara paled when Hiei gave him a peck on the lips. The kiss only lasted for a two seconds before Hiei pushed Kuwabara away roughly – and he intended to.

"Yuck!" The carrot-top made a disgusted noise. Even though it was only a couple of seconds, that couple of seconds was the worst thing that happened to him in his entire life.

Laughter immediately sounded in the room. The others had obviously enjoyed the 'show', they were all laughing out loud but of course, Botan was laughing the loudest, clutching her stomach and rolling on the ground.

"O-oh, god...that's just...PRICELESS!" Shuichi's words came out as breathless pants – apparently out of air because of laughing too much, and he wiped a tear from his eye. "Okay Hiei, it's your turn now."

The laughter subsided and they all looked at Hiei, who still managed to glare at Botan before he blurted out, "Then, I choose you," referring to Shuichi, and inwardly smirked. He was going to have his revenge, and nothing was going to stop him!

Shuichi smirked, his expression calm, and shrugged his shoulders. "Dare."

"I dare you to..." For a fleeting moment, Shuichi saw Hiei glanced at Botan then looked back at him. "...take that panties off her stupid head, and put it on yours."

Botan's and Shuichi's faces turned red – though Botan was redder than Shuichi was.

"W-WHAT?!" Botan literally screamed bloody murder, cursing under her breath when she saw a smirk appearing on Hiei's face. It was obvious this was payback, and he was trying to embarrass the hell out of her.

Shuichi was also blushing, of course, and Botan knew he was taken off guard by the dare as she was. But, this was even more embarrassing for _her _than Shuichi! Plus, knowing his perverted nature, he might even grow to like it soon enough.

"Oooh~! This is going to be GOOD!" They heard Keiko say.

And Yusuke added, "I thought seeing Kuwabara and Hiei kiss was hilarious, but this is probably even more hilarious!"

The others agreed, with light smirks planted on their faces and they looked at the two.

"No way am I going to let that happen!" Botan whined.

Hiei rolled his eyes at her. "Oh, please, stop complaining! Once the time for him to take those panties of yours of his head, you don't have to put it back on your thick head!"

"Hey!"

Hiei didn't give any response to her shout.

Botan contemplated if she should just run away; if what Hiei said was true, then she wouldn't have to wear it on top of her head anymore, although, then again... but before she could even consider the option any longer, she felt a hand pulled off the...er, underwear off her head. Oh my god, this was so wrong... She already knew whose hand was that, and she didn't dare to look at the redhead beside her.

He didn't, either. "So, Hiei. How long am I supposed to wear, uh...this on my head?"

All of them could tell even though Shuichi was saying that calmly, there was an underlying nervousness in his voice. And it was amusing, really. To have him flustered like this. It wasn't every day they see their poker faced friend acting like a normal boy (normal as in with emotions on his face).

Shuichi was blushing. He was actually blushing.

Botan was, too. Slightly redder though.

And the both of them were looking away, trying to avoid each other's gazes.

The scene was absolutely comical.

So comical that they couldn't help but laugh their hearts out again, this time even louder than when Hiei kissed Kuwabara, and automatically making the other two even more flustered.

"S-shut up!" Botan stuttered, the blush on her face deepening.

"Hiei," Shuichi said sternly, trying hard not to stammer, "how long am I going to wear this?" he repeated his question.

Hiei's laugh subsided, but Shuichi could've sworn he had never seen his best friend laugh so hard in his whole life. "Uh, ten minutes?" The spiky-haired male answered him, his tone sounded as if he was about to laugh again but he stopped himself when Shuichi shot him a threatening look.

After a while, the others stopped laughing, and Yusuke spoke, "So, choose your victim, Shuichi!"

"Okay... Well, er... Keiko, Truth or Dare?" he asked, sounding more like himself this time. Not that he wasn't embarrassed anymore, or anything. He was just better at hiding it than Botan was.

"Dare!" She bravely replied.

A smirk. "I dare you to perform a lap dance on Yusuke. For ten minutes, which means once you're done with your little spectacle, then I can take this off."

He heard a few complaints from his friends about how he was just trying to avoid getting stared at (since if Keiko did perform a lap dance, then they would all be busy staring at her instead of him) but Hiei silenced the voices as he teased, "Don't worry, the look on his face is priceless enough."

Shuichi resisted the urge to literally bash Hiei's face in.

Keiko immediately blushed, and glanced over at Yusuke who was batting his eyelashes at her (obviously enjoying the idea of his girlfriend giving him a lap dance). Some people were already laughing and catcalling, one of them actually put on some Japanese song Keiko vaguely recognized on their phone for some extra measure.

She sighed exasperatedly, marching over to Yusuke with a red face and slowly straddled him. And she actually did feel like crying at the moment, she had a hard time looking at Yusuke in the eyes, so she'd occasionally shoot glances here and there, and about everybody had a kick out the show (even Yukina who was fiddling around awkwardly with the camera she brought along, wondering if it'd hurt to take a few photos). She was utterly embarrassed, and for a moment, she wondered, why was her boyfriend having fun with this when she wasn't anyway?!

He was practically cheering for her.

. . .

Shuichi couldn't help but chuckle at the scene, not because he was enjoying the show Keiko was giving them, but because he felt it was rather amusing to see Keiko half-glaring at Yusuke, who on other hand, was really having the best time of his life.

"This is fun," he heard Botan say, and he turned to look at her to see her staring at the others with a small smile on her face. "You have nice friends, Shuichi," she told him, without looking back at him. Not that he was hoping for her though, he understood it would be awkward for either of them if Botan saw how he looked with her... Never mind.

"I suppose so," he replied, a smile slowly forming on his lips. "They are fun to hang out with."

"I'm so envious~" Botan suddenly blurted out.

Shuichi arched an eyebrow at her, but before he could even ask what she meant Keiko was done and was already walking back to where she was sitting, which meant he could already take off the underwear from his head, and he did, slipping it back on to Botan's head. The girl blinked at this, before shooting a glare at him, and pulling the panties off her head, keeping it safe into her pocket. She was about to open her mouth to yell at him for putting it back on her head, but was cut short when Keiko asked, "Shizuru! Truth or Dare?"

The brown-haired woman smirked. "Truth." She wasn't stupid enough to choose dare, because she didn't want to embarrass herself like her other friends did.

"What's the most embarrassing moment in your life?"

"Okay, a few days ago it was raining pretty hard, and I was walking by myself, holding an umbrella. And then, there was this shopping male with a roof over it. But when I entered the mall, I totally didn't realize I was still holding my umbrella and just kept walking. Suddenly, I looked around, and everyone had their umbrellas folded and they were looking at me. So, I quickly got out of there."

As soon as she was finished telling her story, the others started laughing out loud once again and she blushed, "H-hey! Stop laughing!" She was suddenly regretting for telling them that story in the first place.

"Ha-ha, I can actually imagine that happening!" Kuwabara exclaimed between his laughter.

Shizuru shot him a glare, resisting the urge to bang his head on the wall and asked anyway, "So, little bro, Truth or Dare?"

"Truth!"

"Pussy," she criticized him.

"Hey, you chose truth, too!" he shot back

She just rolled his eyes and went on, "If you were a girl, what are the things you would like to do?"

"Oh... I would cook everyday, go to a lollipop land, eat cotton candies everyday, and wear cute dresses-" He was cut off by Hiei.

"Stop! You're making me sick!"

"Shut up, short stuff!"

"You disgust me, you stupid oaf."

"It's not like I want to be a girl anyway!" Kuwabara stopped shouting, and looked over at Yukina with a lovestruck grin on his face. "Plus, if I was a girl, I wouldn't be able to date Yukina-chan," he added, staring straight into Yukina's crimson eyes, and she giggled.

And because Hiei was in the middle of the two, he was more than a little disgusted when the carrot-top on his left began flirting with Yukina. How dare he talk like a puppy in love with his beloved sister! And not to mention, was he some kind of statue?! Kuwabara was obviously ignoring him. Not that he would mind though, but he was after all, IN THE MIDDLE OF THEM and it was awkward to be treated like he didn't exist.

"Shut up, or I'll punch you in the face!"

"Stop cutting me off, you pipsqueak!"

"That's it, you're dead!"

"Bring it on!"

"Oi, oi," Shizuru decided to butt in so a fight wouldn't occur between Kuwabara and Hiei, because if it did, Hiei would've won easily and Kuwabara would be heavily beaten up and that wouldn't be good for her, since she would have to carry him all the way home. She also didn't forget to shoot a death glare at Yusuke who was cheering for them to fight. "Stop that, we're in the middle of a game here."

Fortunately, the two did as they were told to, muttering curses under their breaths. Kuwabara finally asked – not forgetting to glare at Hiei, to which the Hiei responded by glaring back at him –, "Truth or Dare, Yukina-chan?" His hardened expression was replaced by a much softer one as he glanced at his beloved crush.

"Um... I think I'm going to choose... Truth!"

Kuwabara decided this was a good time to find out how she felt for him. "Do you like me?"

The girl seemed to be confuse at the question. "What do you mean? Of course I like you, you're my friend!"

"No! I mean, like... Do you _like _me?"

"I told you, I do. You're my friend, remember?"

"I don't mean it like that!"

"I don't understand, Kazuma-kun..."

"Never mind," Kuwabara blurted out, heaving out a low, disappointed sigh.

Shuichi who was watching the two the entire time, just smiled apologetically at his carrot-top friend. Truthfully, he did feel sorry for Kuwabara for a bit; it obviously didn't seem like Yukina understood what he was trying to say.

Yukina blinked at Kuwabara, feeling as though he was acting a bit strange before shrugging it off, and asked, "So, um, Shuichi, Truth or Dare?"

"Me again?" Shuichi asked back incredulously.

"Hey!" Yusuke cut him short before he could say anything else. "There's no rule that says someone can't ask you that!"

Shuichi's brows furrowed, knowing what delinquent said was true and sighed heavily. "Fine, Truth."

"Have anyone seen you completely naked before? If yes, who?"

Okay, that was seriously not the question all of them expected the nice, sweet Yukina to ask. But then again, maybe Yukina wasn't so nice, after all...

The redhead pondered about it for a moment, before shooting a glance at Botan. She blinked at him, her amethyst eyes in a pool of bewilderment as she stared back at Shuichi. What? Why was he looking at her like that? She wondered, but her questions were answered as Shuichi turned to look back at Yukina and asked, "Does this count being half-naked?"

Oh, Botan was absolutely catching on what Shuichi was getting at, and she couldn't help the blush that spread on her face when Yukina responded, "I guess so."

"Well if that's the case," Shuichi smirked devilishly, literally, "then my answer is yes."

The boys grinned at him – except Hiei who just pretended as if he wasn't interested (despite the fact that he actually was) – and the girls blushed, and squealed.

"Who?" Yukina asked again.

Too bad for Botan, the smirk on Shuichi's lips broadened considerably at the question, not forgetting to give the azure-haired girl sitting beside him a wink as he answered, "Botan."

There was silence for a few seconds before it was broken off by Yusuke who laughed his head off, along with Kuwabara while Hiei just smirked, and the girls – except for Botan whose blush deepened – giggled.

Oh, how could Botan even forget the time when she accidentally entered Shuichi's room when the redhead was taking a bath? She would never forget THAT, how could anyone forget that really?! But she totally did not expect Shuichi to... er, bring it up now.

Great, now all his friends knew.

"How did that happen, Shuichi?" Yusuke asked, wriggling his eyebrows at his redheaded friend and Botan.

Shuichi opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by Botan who suddenly started to wave her arms around and literally shouted at the top of her lungs, as if she was trying to drown all other possible noises. "You can't ask any more questions!"

"Who says so?" Kuwabara countered.

She made a face, but she continued nonetheless, "A-anyway, just pick the person you're going to ask, Shuichi!"

Botan could practically see the amusement glinting in those piercing emerald eyes of his and she already knew it was because of her antics, but she decided to pretend she didn't notice it.

Shuichi gave her a smile (which made her wanted to strangle him to death), as if he didn't know she was embarrassed, before turning his head to look at Yusuke. "Truth or Dare, Yusuke?"

The said delinquent smirked and confidently exclaimed, "Dare!"

To put it simply, the game ended with Yusuke forced to run around town with his underpants over his trousers and screaming, "I'm The Super Man!"

_'I am never gonna play Truth or Dare again!"_


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. It belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi.**

**You're Not So Bad**

**Chapter 9**

It was already night. Around 9:30 p.m. Four feminine figures could be seen in the dark kitchen, one of them turned the lights on and they sat at the kitchen counter.

"So," Shizuru started, lighting up a cigarette and putting it between her lips, "what's going on with you and Shuichi?"

Botan stared at the three girls in front of her with a rather exasperated expression on her face.

They didn't drag her all the way from Yusuke's room to the kitchen so they could interrogate her like this, did they?

Apparently they did though.

"Nothing's going on with me and him!" she cried out indignantly, waving her hands in the air like a mad woman. Not that she didn't like Shuichi, of course. But, she was running out of ideas of how to answer their uncomfortably difficult questions, so it was ticking her off.

"Yeah, sure, it looks like nothing to me," Keiko retorted sarcastically.

Great, now they were using sarcasm. Just great.

"Why do you guys want to know anyway?" Botan murmured, her voice barely audible for anyone to hear, but they did.

"Because Shuichi's our friend, and you are, too. So, we want you guys to be happy with each-" Yukina didn't get to finish what she was going to say because Botan had decided to cut her off.

"Happy with each other? We don't have a relationship, Yukina."

"If you don't, then why are you guys kissing?" Yukina, Shizuru and Keiko asked in unison.

"Why?" Botan repeated the question, as if she didn't hear it the first time. Why did they like kissing each other? Why? That question plagued her mind, either. They weren't in any romantic relationship, but… why would they kiss each other so many times? It was strange, and she never did mind it before, but then again… It was still strange… She seriously didn't know the answer to that.

"I don't know," she responded without thinking. It took her a few moments to finally realize the incredulous looks on her friends' faces and what she had just said, causing her to let out a surprised gasp and close her mouth with both of her hands.

"F-forget I said that…"

"F-forget?" Shizuru muttered under her breath, her eyes staring wide at Botan. "How can we forget when you put it like _that_?"

Botan couldn't help but shut her amethyst eyes shut, cursing at herself. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why did she have to go and say that in the first place? Shizuru had a point; they honestly couldn't just let what happened only a few seconds ago slip from their minds.

"I-I know," she stuttered, blood immediately rushing to her cheeks. Oh god, this was the… Well, she didn't know how many times she had already embarrassed herself in front of her knew friends that day, but she knew it was too much for her too bear another embarrassment.

She could already tell this 'interrogation' was going to end up embarrassing her.

"I-I…um, Shuichi and I, we're just…"

Great, now she was at loss for words.

This was going just great.

"Just?" Keiko urged, raising an eyebrow quizzically at her azure-haired friend. "Just what, Botan?"

"W-we're just…um, more intimate than friends are…but we're not dating! Of course we're not dating, but…uh…"

Yukina completely misunderstood her sentence. "Oh my gosh!" Both of her hands flew to her face, a surprised gasp escaping from her throat as she peered wide-eyed at Botan. "I know what you're trying to say! You guys are friends with benefits, aren't you?"

Botan almost choked on her own saliva at the smaller girl's words. WHAT. DID. SHE. JUST. SAY?!

Keiko and Shizuru were taken off guard by Yukina's choice of words. They seriously, absolutely, did not expect the sweet, innocent, and gentle Yukina would be the first one to say that. But on the other hand, maybe their sea-green haired friend wasn't that innocent after all… It makes you wonder if she was just pretending not to notice Kuwabara's affections for her.

The girl had a point though. I mean, Botan DID say that they were more intimate than any friends were, although they weren't really going out each other so that left them with the only thing they could think of at the moment… Shuichi and Botan were friends with benefits.

After a few seconds of silence – Shizuru finally broke it off with an amused voice, "So, I guess Shuichi's not that much of a gentleman as we thought." A small smirk lingered at the corner of her mouth, her eyes closed as she took out her cigarette from her mouth and blew.

Botan made a face. It was true. What Shizuru said was the complete truth; Shuichi wasn't as 'gentlemanly' as they thought he was. He would throw random, perverted jokes at her on more than a few occasions, but the problem here was, although the older woman was correct in her words, she was completely misunderstanding the whole thing Botan shared with Shuichi.

"How many times have you guys…done it?" Keiko asked, gulping loudly and staring at Botan with a face that was somewhat a mix of excitement and curiosity.

Botan wanted to bang her head on the wall.

Literally.

It was as she had expected, she was feeling embarrassed, _again_.

"What do you mean by that, Keiko? We've never done 'it' before, and I doubt we probably will," Botan countered, her voice tinted with annoyance.

Yukina frowned. "But you said you two were-"

Botan didn't let the girl finish. "I never said that! You assumed that!"

She could practically feel her face heating up to a degree she didn't think was even possible. Seeing the befuddled looks on the other girls' faces, Botan heaved out a loud, exasperated sigh. "It's complicated."

"Oh, come on, Botan," Keiko urged once again, pleading Botan with those puppy-eyes of hers. "Please, just tell us."

Botan smiled awkwardly, a sweatdrop forming at the back of her head at the cute face the brunette was making. She even got distracted for a fraction of a second, before she was once again aware of the topic they were discussing, and let out another sigh. "Even if I do, I doubt you guys would understand."

Shizuru's brows furrowed. "You don't know that until you try."

"But…"

"Botan." This time Yukina spoke. "Just try and tell us what's happening between the two of you. You don't even know if we understand or not yet, if you don't even try."

Botan pondered their words. They were right; she hadn't even tried yet, so how would she know if they could understand? What they told her was a fact, yet… "Listen to me girls, I don't even know how to explain."

Keiko shrugged her shoulders. "You said so yourself that it's complicated, so that's expected. But, we're your friends, and we don't feel comfortable if you don't explain what…you and Shuichi share with each other…"

The other two girls nodded their heads in a form of agreement at Keiko's words.

And that made it even harder for Botan to resist the urge of telling them everything. They were so…nice to her, and they were even fun to be with… Botan had never had these kind of good friends before. Sure, she had friends who she'd always go shopping with, but neither of those friends was this good to her.

God, Shuichi had such better friends than she did, and she was so jealous.

But, back to their conversation, Botan honestly could say she herself didn't know what she was feeling towards Shuichi. But, maybe… If she told them what was really going on, maybe they could understand her situation better than she could.

Oh, what the heck? Might as well just explain everything to them right?

"What Shuichi said in the bedroom was true, that our parents are dating and we've spend a lot of time together…and we've even kissed a lot of times before. I-I know this might be confusing but, despite all those kisses we shared, we aren't going out like you guys think…" Botan trailed off, suddenly feeling confused. How was she supposed to describe her weird feelings for Shuichi to them? What if they didn't understand a words she was about to say? What if…

Botan didn't continue her "what ifs" as she looked at her friends faces, they were all sporting intense expressions on their features.

They were all ears on listening to what she had to say.

Somehow, she was feeling a bit touched at their care for her – and Shuichi. She never had friends who were this…ready to lend their ears to her.

But, Botan kept those touchy emotions in control, and went on, "I-I don't know what I feel for him… Sometimes, I want to be with him… To be by his side always…and there were times even, my heartbeat race whenever I'm around him… I-It's just so confusing. I've never felt this way before…for anyone. Yet, he…" She hung her head low.

Silence enveloped the four girls as Botan suddenly cut sentence short.

Keiko broke the ice though. "Botan, I think…"

The said girl lifted her head to look at her brunette friend.

Wait, why was Keiko smiling at her? And why were Yukina and Shizuru giggling? Did she say something funny?

It didn't take long for Keiko to continue, "…you're in love with him."

Amethyst eyes blinked.

Love? What did Keiko mean by that? Had she actually fallen in love with Shuichi? That was impossible…wasn't it? She had never felt 'love' before, and to think Shuichi, someone she knew for only a short time, could ignite such a feeling in her was just…

But, then again… That would explain the butterflies she would always feel in her stomach whenever she was with him, the strong desire to be with him...and the feeling of her heartbeat racing…

That would explain all of it.

She loved Shuichi.

Why did it take so long for her to realize such a simple thing?!

"I-I am?" Botan asked, but it sounded more like a statement than a question. "I love Shuichi… I-I can't believe I didn't know this before… Gawd, I'm such an idiot…" she mumbled to no one in particular.

The other girls giggled at her words.

Yukina then told her, "You're not an idiot, Botan."

"B-but I am! I took this long to notice my feelings for him… It's so easy!"

"Yeah, it is easy." Shizuru nodded her head once. "But it isn't easy for someone for you since you don't really know much about love."

Huh?

How did Shizuru know that?

She didn't include that in her story did she?

Seeing the confused look on Botan's faces, the three couldn't help but giggle once again. Keiko responded to the question that was dancing around in her head. "Botan, we could tell that by the bewildered and clueless look you had on your face when you were telling us the whole story."

"Oh," was her only reply.

God, was she that simple to read?

She wondered slightly but she didn't manage to think of it any further when Shizuru suggested, "You should confess."

"Confess?!" Botan's jaws dropped, but she closed them almost instantly. "I-I don't think I can do that…"

Keiko arched an eyebrow questioningly at her. "Why not? You should just tell him how you feel."

Yukina nodded her head furiously. "You can't keep those feelings bottled up in you, Botan. They will eat at you," she added.

"I-I know!" Botan nearly cried out. "B-but, I just don't think he'll accept them…" she muttered the last sentence under her breath, but Yukina, Keiko and Shizuru heard it loud and clear.

"Why do you think that?" Yukina asked, her crimson eyes in a pool of mixed befuddlement and concern as she stared straight at Botan.

The azure-haired girl glanced at her for the merest second, looked back at Keiko and Shizuru, before gazing down at her hands which were now fumbling with her shirt.

It was only her body moving, but they could practically tell that she was trying to say something.

"Botan," Shizuru called her name, her voice urging.

It took her about ten seconds for her to finally give them the answer they were waiting for, "It's just…Shuichi doesn't seem to be the type of guy who falls for a girl, you know?"

She was stalling, they knew. But that didn't stop Keiko from stating bluntly, "He keeps kissing you, how could he _not_ feel the same way?"

"Y-yes, you have a point. But, you know how he is with me, right? He's always teasing me, and sometimes…sometimes, he's just so seductive. I just don't know if those kisses were just kisses, or if they meant something more," Botan explained even further.

"…" Her three friends said nothing; they didn't know what to say. What were they supposed to say to THAT?!

Of course, the Shuichi Botan was talking about was a 'new' Shuichi to them, because they had never seen him act that way around any girl before – until Botan showed up. But, he was Shuichi, nonetheless. They knew the redhead tends to keep secrets, and it wasn't an unknown fact that he was, indeed, hard to read. So despite the fact, Shuichi acted unusual around Botan, Botan was right. There was still a possibility that the feeling wasn't mutual.

It took them long minutes of silence before they finally broke it off with a chorused, "Why don't you try?"

Sure, there was still that possibility but something told them Shuichi loved Botan, too. I guess you could call it woman's intuition?

Botan was oblivious for a second. "Huh? Try what?"

The others gave her "really?" looks and Botan instantly realized what they meant, "O-oh…but…what if he rejects me?"

"You know what, Botan?" Shizuru started, throwing her cigarette away into a nearby dustbin. "You should stop with the "what if"s. Just go with your heart, and confess to him. If he doesn't love you back, then that's too bad. But, in my opinion, instead of sitting here playing with your "what if"s, I think it's better if you get hurt than continuing on not knowing the truth."

It didn't take long for Botan to agree that what her brown-haired friend said was correct.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, with Shuichi and the boys…<p>

They were just sitting silently in the room; no one uttered even one word since the girls pulled Botan out of the room. To where, they didn't know but they guessed it was some girls' talk.

Well, except for when Shuichi called his mother and Yukio to tell them that he and Botan would be staying at Yusuke's apartment for a night. They had asked the both of them to sleep over, because they wanted to hang out the next morning.

But, it was still…quiet.

Yusuke finally couldn't take the silence, and not to mention, his curiosity got the better of him and he sat up from his lying position on the cold, hard floor and called, "Oi, Shuichi."

The redhead rotated his head to the right to look at the delinquent. This had even gained Kuwabara's and Hiei's attentions, the former peered over at the two while the latter – as usual – was pretending as if he was uninterested.

"What is it, Yusuke?"

The said teen scratched the back of his head, a frown embedded on his forehead. "Uh, I know this is technically none of my business, but I was just thinking," He then looked straight into those pair of emerald eyes that belonged to Shuichi, "what is up with you and Botan?"

Shuichi raised an eyebrow at him, before turning his gaze to the ticking clock. "You are correct, it has nothing to do with you and you shouldn't meddle with my relationships with others," he started, and Yusuke couldn't help but wince.

The delinquent was pretty used to the redhead's blunt statements though, in spite of the fact they did hurt sometimes and just waited for Shuichi to continue. "But, I suppose I will tell you anyway. Since I know you won't stop bothering me if I don't."

Yusuke leaned closer to Shuichi. Kuwabara who had been sitting on Yusuke's bed the whole time, stood up and literally sprinted to where the other two were. Hiei, on the other hand though, just sat on the windowsill, but his ears were perked up.

"Botan and I…well, I guess you could say that we do have an interesting connection. As I had said earlier, she and I are not an item as you guys suspect. But, I will admit, she…bewilders me, at times."

"Bewilders you?" Kuwabara frowned at him. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about these strange feelings she's planted within me. I don't know what to do with them; I don't even know what they are."

Yusuke's eyes suddenly held a hint of suspicions in them. "What 'feelings'? Describe them."

Shuichi glanced at him for only a fraction of a second, returned his gaze to the clock and went on, "I feel as if…I want to know everything she does, everything she eats, drinks, just…basically everything about her. Also, there's this abnormal feeling of my heartbeat racing whenever she's with me… It's strange, and it irks me that I don't know what it is."

The redhead displayed his annoyance at himself by scowling. It was true, he was just so used to knowing everything that…when something he knew nothing about started to bloom inside him, and he just felt pissed off by it. He admitted, the feelings made him feel good at times, but he couldn't stand the fact that he didn't know what they were.

Silence.

But Hiei broke it off with a mocking howl of laughter. Shuichi shot a black look at the shorter male, as if demanding to know what it was that he found so funny.

Hiei wasn't scared of the expression his friend was giving him, letting a smirk tugged at his lips. "You are such a wimp, Shuichi. What you are describing is called love, you buffoon."

Instead of Shuichi who replied to him, it was Yusuke. "Look who's talking," the delinquent scoffed, rolling his eyes at Hiei, "You're the one who knows what those feelings Shuichi's harboring for Botan are love."

"And _you_ don't?" Hiei shot back, earning a death glare from Yusuke in return.

The two males were about to start a mouth-war but Shuichi cut them off before they could even let another word escape from their lips, "What do you mean by _love_?" he let the last word came out somewhat forced, yet confused.

"Dude!" Kuwabara said. "You love Botan."

Shuichi's brows creased, and Yusuke and Kuwabara couldn't help but frown back. Was he actually creasing his eyebrows? Why?

"I…" Shuichi spoke slowly, gulping down a lump in his throat as he continued, "…don't like her that way."

Yusuke didn't bother to resist the urge to groan exasperatedly at the redhead's sudden stubbornness to accept his own feelings. "Then, what way do you fucking like her?"

"I care for her, Yusuke. But, I don't think that it's love."

"Shuichi," This time Kuwabara groaned. "You can't just tell us that you kiss her for the hell of it?"

"I don't. I really do like kissing her; I'm not doing it merely to satiate my desires. Like I told you before, I care for her, so why would I take advantage of her like that? I just don't agree that I love her."

Hiei's voice chimed in. "Listen, I have to agree with these idiots on this." He ignored the death glares he got from Yusuke and Kuwabara and went on, "If you do care for her, and you're kissing her, also not to mention, the feelings you just explained to us, there's only one thing anyone could conclude from this: you love her. Just admit it."

"Hiei," Kurama choked out. He seriously did not expect that his own best friend would even think that! He surely didn't love Botan…

…Did he?

Despite the nagging feeling at the back of his head that keep telling him that he was indeed in love with her, Shuichi's ego and stubbornness to control of him. "I don't feel that way for her, okay? I don't love her. I've never been in love, and I never will."

Yusuke rolled his eyes for the umpteenth time. He didn't know if he should think of Shuichi being deliberately angsty about himself or if he was just being stubborn. But, he decided to believe in the second guess, "Shuichi, will you stop being stubborn and just admit that you fucking love the girl?"

To Yusuke's utter irritation, Shuichi retorted, "Don't you know, Yusuke? I got that characteristic from you," with a slight smirk.

Yusuke shot him an icy stare. "Don't push me, pretty boy."

Despite his warning, Shuichi continued on denying his obvious feelings for Botan, "Can't you guys just stop pestering me about Botan?"

"Why?" Hiei suddenly mocked. "Can't stand the fact that some girl could have so much power over you?"

Shuichi's eyes darkened at Hiei's words.

Kuwabara could sense a fight was going to occur between Hiei and Shuichi, and decided that he should stop that from happening. "Shuichi," he called for the redhead, and the said boy removed his glare from Hiei to look at the carrot-top.

"Hmm?" he hummed in response.

"You know what I think?"

"What?"

"I think you do love Botan, but you just don't realize it yet. Or maybe you do, but you're just scared to admit that you are in love with her, because you've never loved anyone before."

Shuichi frowned, the darkness disappearing from his emerald eyes. Kuwabara's words…hit something in him, as if they were somehow…true. But, Shuichi spoke otherwise, "W-what are you trying to imply here, Kuwabara?"

Although Shuichi tried to sound calm, the other three could tell that he was uncomfortable. Kuwabara exchanged looks with Hiei and Yusuke, before turning to look back at Shuichi. "I think you know what I mean."

"I don't."

Oh great, the stubbornness was back.

Yusuke couldn't hold back his exasperation any longer and snapped, "You know Shuichi, you're a complete genius when it comes to academics and common knowledge, but you're just so dumb and clueless when it involves emotions."

Shuichi didn't say anything, but Yusuke could tell the redhead was slightly angered by his words from the way his emerald eyes seemed to hold that darkness back in them, narrowing, low and dangerous, and his lips were in a thin line.

It took a few moments for Shuichi to force out a sentence, "I'm going to the kitchen to get something to drink." His voice was inaudible, yet cold as he went out of the room, and didn't even bother to wait for any response from his friends.

He was angry.

Because he knew Yusuke was right.

* * *

><p>Shuichi entered the kitchen, noting the way Keiko, Shizuru and Yukina almost jumped at his sudden presence. It struck him as odd but he didn't care since his mind was more preoccupied with something else.<p>

Did he really love Botan? He couldn't help but wonder…

And speaking of Botan, there she was, staring wide-eyed at him with her mouth opening and closing repeatedly. He couldn't help but chuckle slightly at the girl's antics and playfully joked, "Close your mouth, Botan, you look hilarious."

Botan immediately did what she was told to, and stuttered out her question, "S-Shuichi! W-what are y-you doing here?!"

Shuichi seemed to catch on her strange behavior. What was going on with the girl? It wasn't like her to suddenly stammer like that.

That didn't stop him from feeling amused by it though.

And he let another chuckle erupt from his lips, noticing the slight pink tinting Botan's cheeks…

…And why were Shizuru, Yukina and Keiko sneaking out of the kitchen.

"Girls," he spoke and all three nearly jumped once again at the sound of his voice, "if you want to leave, then you don't have to be so sneaky about it. It's not like I don't allow you to."

They turned to look at him. Keiko and Shizuru laughed awkwardly, and scratched the back of their heads while Yukina made an uncomfortable face, her eyes wide as saucers and her body frigid.

"Y-yeah!" Shizuru said awkwardly, and nudged Keiko's shoulder with her elbow, earning a confused look from the brunette in return. "We were just trying to be ninjas, you know, like in those TV shows!" She then turned to look at Keiko. "Right, Keiko?"

Keiko finally caught on what Shizuru was trying to do an awkwardly agreed, "R-right!"

"U-uh…" Yukina seemed to be having trouble getting her words out.

The other two noticed and quickly pulled her out of view and said in unison (again, awkwardly). "B-bye!"

With that, they fled.

Shuichi couldn't help himself from wondering what they were talking about that could be so important that they had to act so strangely around him. But, oh well, he shrugged it off. He guessed it was some girl's stuff.

He averted his gaze to Botan who was now smiling sheepishly at him and smiled back.

"Y-you need anything?" Botan asked him, shooting glances here and there. Shuichi suspected there was something up with her, but decided he shouldn't be poking in other people's business. He could tell they were talking about some serious business. **(A/N: Ha-ha~! He just doesn't know that they were talking about him, does he! XD)**

"Just a glass of water," he answered her, giving her a slight nod, and she nodded back.

There was a moment of silence.

Botan couldn't help but feel nervous! Not when her girl friends suggested she should tell him how she felt! How should she tell him? Argh! She didn't know how to put it into words. But, then again… She might as well say, "_Hey, Shuichi, I love you!"_...

No way! She wouldn't even get the first word out!

Shuichi on the other hand, was thinking about what Yusuke and the others had told him in the bedroom, but he was thinking more of what Kuwabara said.

"_I think you do love Botan, but you just don't realize it yet. Or maybe you do, but you're just scared to admit that you are in love with her, because you've never loved anyone before_."

Was he?

Was he really unaware of the fact he did love Botan? Or was he just terrified to admit it? Shuichi didn't know, he didn't know what to think anymore.

But, in spite the complicated, befuddling feelings he was feeling, he still loved Botan's company. Even though both of them weren't even saying anything now, he still loved it. He loved just able to be near her.

But did he love her?

The thought bugged him.

He decided not to dwell on his thoughts for any longer – he would think of the matter another time – and spoke, "So, do you like the girls?"

"Oh, you mean your friends?"

He laughed. "Who else would I mean?"

"R-right…" She was quiet for a moment before a grin finally appeared on her lips, her amethyst eyes sparkled happily and she cheerfully responded, "I think they're great! They're so nice, and friendly, and caring! Not to mention, they're also fun to be with! They're perfect!"

Shuichi couldn't help but let out another burst of laughter erupt from his chest at the childish ways Botan was answering to a simple question, but he distantly heard her mutter…

"None of my other friends are like that…"

He blinked at her words, staring at her for what seemed like ages before he finally inquired, "What do you mean, Botan?"

It took her a moment to realize that he had heard her mumble to herself. She stared back at him, and saw his emerald eyes searching her amethyst ones, as if trying to find answers in them.

She felt her heartbeat race, and looked down to her feet. A few seconds passed, and she finally gave him the answer he wanted to know.

"My friends, they…well, they're not really what I would call friends… Sure, we go shopping together a lot, but they've never cared for me like Shizuru, Yukina and Keiko does… I mean, the only reason they like hanging out with me is because I sometimes have a lot of money and they like that I would buy things for them… You know, girl things, like clothes and jewelry and stuff. If something was to happen to me, I doubt they would bother to even ask…"

"Botan, that's… I'm sorry to hear they treat you like that, but…who knows? Maybe they do care, but they just don't show it?"

Botan didn't know what got her into saying it, but something inside her snapped when yhose words left Shuichi's lips. "They didn't even care to ask if I was okay when my mom died!"

Shuichi who had just grabbed a glass, dropped it at her sentence, and stared back wide-eyed at her now flushed face. "B-Botan…"

The girl's eyes widened in realization at what she had just said and she immediately closed her mouth, "I-I…"

It was silent again before Shuichi asked again, "What happened to her?"

"Eh?"

"What happened to your mom?"

"…She died in a car crash when I was six…she was trying to pick me up from my kindergarten school…I mean, she was always so busy, so I would always end up waiting for her because she would always arrive there late." Shuichi was aware of the cracking tone in her voice, could hear her sobs. "That day…she promised me that she would come pick me up early, 'cause it was my birthday…and she just…she didn't realize the truck until it hit her…"

And that was it, Botan's tears were now cascading her cheeks and she was now sobbing uncontrollably. Shuichi didn't know what got into him then, there was something in him…that made him want her to make her feel better.

The broken glass on the floor was now forgotten as he sauntered over to where she was and slowly, his arms reached to envelop her in an embrace, and he let her cry on his shirt. "I-I…! Since then, I just think everything's my fault…! S-she died because of me! Mom died because of me-!"

"Shh, shh… It's not your fault…"

"B-but-!"

"Listen to me," He brought a finger to her chin and lifted her head up so she would be looking at him. Then he saw it, her pink cheeks, the tear-tracks on her face, her eyes swollen and red from crying, and he couldn't help but think she looked beautiful. But, as beautiful as she did look when she cried, he preferred her smile. "It's not your fault your mother passed away. You can't blame yourself. If your mother was alive now, I don't think she would want to see you like this."

She sniffed twice, and he smiled, patted her head, eliciting a small, contented sigh from her. Botan then buried her face back into Shuichi's chest, feeling his own warmth radiate to her skin. "Thank you."

His smile broadened, one of his hands found its way to her hair, entangling his fingers in the sky blue locks. But he didn't say anything. He just stood there, and held her in his arms, letting her occasionally sniff against his clothed chest.

A comfortable silence engulfed the two of them before Botan finally broke it off by softly asking, "W-what about you, Shuichi?"

He looked down at her to see she was looking back at him and raised an eyebrow. "What about me?"

"W-what happened to your dad?"

A small smile formed slowly on his face. "Nothing happened to him. They just divorced, that's all. It's nothing serious."

"A divorce is nothing serious?"

A low, amused chuckle escaped his lips at the incredulous tone in her voice, and he shook his head, as if to say she was misunderstanding what he was trying to say. "What I mean is, it was nothing serious compared to what happened to your mother."

"O-oh…" she said, a knowing look crossed her features. "Why did they have a divorce? I mean, Shiori's so nice! And she's an awesome cook, too! How could a man be stupid enough to let _her_ go?!"

He grinned at her. "They just… I don't know, mother just said that the feelings were just gone… She said the spark disappeared and that they didn't love each other anymore." His hand softly played with her strands of hair. "So, she decided to ask for a divorce, because neither of them could stand getting married to someone they no longer love."

Botan let the information sank. "I see." She nodded her head. "Then I guess I'm happy that your mom found my dad."

"I'm happy, too."

And the situation felt so…wonderful that Botan couldn't help but blurt out, "I'm also happy to have met you," without even thinking about it.

His emerald eyes widened like saucers at her words. Shuichi didn't know why, but his heart was suddenly beating fast, his hand slipped out of her hair, and it was obvious that he was taken off guard at what Botan said.

Botan's own eyes widened as she finally realized what she just exclaim and both her hands flew to her mouth, a slight blush appearing on her face.

They stared at each other for the longest time, before Botan finally spoke – more like stuttered. "I-I should go now…um, thanks for, uh…comforting me…"

"Y-yeah…" Shuichi himself couldn't help but stammer.

As soon as Shuichi said that, Botan sprinted out of the kitchen with a dark beyond definitions blush.

_I love you_, she wanted to tell him.

But, she didn't.

* * *

><p>Shuichi's face was heating up.<p>

He could've sworn he had never been so red in the face in his entire life. And those butterflies were back again, they were flying around in stomach.

Not to mention, his heart was beating so loud, the sound almost drowned any possible noise that could be heard…

He brought a hand to his hair and sighed.

'_God, what is happening to me…'_


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. It belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi.**

**You're Not So Bad**

**Chapter 10**

Emerald eyes flicked open.

And unlike his usual mornings, Shuichi was woken up by the sound of his friends snoring and the feeling of something against his face.

'_This is freaking annoying...' _His left eyebrow visibly twitched, his mouth in a thin line and his right hand slapped Kuwabara's feet away from his precious face. '_I wake up one morning to the pleasant smell of Kuwabara's feet...'_

Yusuke had suggested the boys to sleep in his room using some extra futons he kept in his apartment. He said something about his mom's friends always coming for a sleep over when she used to live with him in the past. But since Atsuko was gone now, she had no use of the futons and had left them in the apartment, so Yusuke had lend them to his friends.

'_I didn't expect the mattresses to be clean. I didn't think he'd ever washed them before ever since Atsuko's not with him anymore,' _Shuichi couldn't help but mused as he sniffed his own futon.

Sitting up, Shuichi glanced around the room and sweatdropped when he saw Hiei's fist on Kuwabara's face, while Yusuke was now somewhat sleeping at the corner of the room.

Suddenly, the memory of last night's discussion he had with Botan flashed in his memory.

"_I'm also happy to have met you."_

As soon as those words appeared, he immediately shook his head in an attempt to get rid of it from his mind. Of course, that had never worked before and he was still thinking about it.

'_Do I really care about Botan in such a way? Do I really…_' He trailed off in his own thoughts, gulping down a lump, as if he couldn't say the 'love' word even his mind.

If it was some other girl, he would've stated that he wasn't in love with her without a doubt. This was Botan though…and she was different.

Shuichi didn't know, really. He wasn't sure. But there it was again, that nagging feeling at the back of his head telling him to admit that he did love her.

His ego stopped him from doing so.

Despite the fact Botan was the one causing him so much confusion, he couldn't help but still wonder what she was doing now. Had she woken up already? Or was she still sleeping?

The girls slept in the living room, which was just conveniently close to where Yusuke's room was. Then again, Yusuke's apartment was never really that big now, was it? So if he just went out of the room and peeked outside, he would see if Botan was awake or not…

A loud, exasperated sigh escaped his lips, and he ran a hand through his red mane. There he goes again, thinking about her.

Shuichi pondered for a while if he should just go ahead and do it, or if he should just stay there and sit at his mattress. He wanted to take the second choice but the strong desire of knowing how Botan was doing didn't let him.

He let out another exasperated sigh – both at the complicated emotions arousing in him and his stubbornness to just open the door and get it over with.

A few seconds passed by, and he finally got up from the futon, sauntered over to the door and opened it, closing it behind him as slow and inaudible as possible as to not awake the others.

He peered over the living room and was greeted by the sight of Keiko and Shizuru who were sleeping against each other on one of the couches and Yukina on another couch with a sheet covering her body. And Botan…

Wait, where was Botan?

His eyes widened in alarm at the sudden disappearance of the girl, and the fear of something terrible happening to her crept up into his skin. Where was she? Did something happen? Or had she gone back home? She wouldn't do that without him right? God, why did it-

"Shuichi?"

The redhead almost jumped at the sound of the feminine and all-too familiar voice. He whipped his head around and caught a glimpse of Botan who was blinking at him.

"B-Botan...?"

"What's wrong?" She cocked her head to the side. "You look like you've just seen a ghost."

"E-eh?" For the first time in his life, Shuichi looked dumbfounded. "I-I…"

Botan arched an eyebrow at him, wondering why he was acting so strange all of a sudden. Then, she remembered last night's events, and a blush immediately spread to her face, thinking he was probably being weird because of what she said.

"_I'm also happy to have met you."_

Her own words repeated itself over and over again in her head like a broken lullaby. Great, now this was embarrassing. Botan couldn't believe she just told him that! Not that she didn't feel that way sincerely, but it was goddamn humiliating that she acted that way in front of him, of all people. Shuichi, of all people!

It struck her for a moment. _'I'm acting like a normal girl with a crush…'_

"L-listen, Shuichi…about what I said last night…er, are you mad?" she asked uncertainly, a look of disappointment crossing her face.

Hearing her sentence, Shuichi finally came into his senses, his eyebrows creasing. He didn't mean for her to think that way. Yes, her words that night had taken him by surprise but it wasn't like he didn't like it. He was…pretty happy to hear it even.

'_Why though?'_

He smiled at her, in spite of the bewildering thought appearing in his mind. "No, why would I be mad? It's not like you said something bad about me."

"Y-yeah, but you were acting…strange just now, as if you didn't want to see me…"

"That's not it, Botan. I just thought something happened to you, that's why I was surprised when you just came out of nowhere," Shuichi explained, scratching the back of his head and his cheeks suddenly turned pink, avoiding her gaze.

Blood rushed to Botan's cheeks at the redhead's words. So he had been worried about her… Her heart began to beat fast at the realization. "O-oh, I see."

A few seconds passed by in silence, and Shuichi finally spoke, "The others are going to wake up soon enough, and Yusuke and Kuwabara will undoubtedly fight over who goes into the bathroom first. So, we may as well take this to our advantage…" He turned to look at her, his eyes ogling her up and down before he continued. "So, um…you want to take a shower first? Or should I?"

"Eh?" Botan blinked. "How did you know I haven't even bathed yet?" she asked him. It was true; she had just woken up to grab a glass of water. She hadn't even managed to shower yet when Shuichi came out of Yusuke's room.

To her confusion, Shuichi grinned. "Uh…that's because you're still in your…'pajamas'…" His eyes glued to a certain part of her body.

Her eyes blinked again. Once, twice. She followed his gaze, only to blush dark red as she realized he was staring at her…er, breasts. She had slept with a white see-through night dress last night, and had worn nothing but her pink bra under it. So, which meant…

"GAHHH! Shuichi, you disgusting pervert!" She snapped at him, now covering herself with her arms and her blush deepened slightly when he smirked.

That darn seductive smirk of his again…

Shuichi raised his arms up in defeat. "Hey, it's not my fault, okay? You're the one who wore it in the first place."

"Ugh! You weren't supposed to see this!"

He raised an eyebrow at her, his emerald eyes glinting with amusement, the smirk tugging at his lips widening slightly and he teased, "Any reason why?"

"Because you're a goddamn voyeur, Shuichi!"

"How could you even say that to me?" He feigned hurt, holding his chest just to 'improvise' his act a bit.

Botan rolled her eyes. "Please, Shuichi. Don't pretend like your innocent."

"Well, you're not that innocent either, Botan…" he told her, obviously referring to her choice of clothes.

The said girl gaped at his dirty words but more at the satisfied grin he was sporting on his face. "W-why you-!" She fumed and decided not to curse him. "T-this isn't mine… Shizuru brought it with her…she said it didn't fit her anymore, so she told me that I could have it… It's not like I wanted it anyway!"

"Botan, you accepted it. That's just the same as wanting it even though it didn't belong to you at first."

She opened her mouth to retaliate but nothing came out, and it was clear that she didn't know what to retort to that, causing her to feel even more frustrated. She threw her arms up in exasperation, letting out an indignant cry. "God! It's hopeless arguing with you!"

Shuichi chuckled. "Why? Because I'm smart enough to win an argument with you?"

He earned a death glare from Botan. "You're not the smartest person in the world, Shuichi. Stop acting like you're so high and mighty!"

"Yeah, but I know that I'm smarter than you are."

"AGH!"

The redhead chuckled once more at the girl's antics, amused. He opened his mouth to tease her some more only to cut himself short when Botan stomped away. He arched an eyebrow at this, but followed her nonetheless.

"Neko-chan~? Where are you going?" Shuichi teased.

Botan couldn't help but blush at the nickname, and shouted angrily, "Shut up, Shuichi!"

"Uwa! You're so mean!" he faked a childish voice.

She could practically tell he had an equally childish expression on his face…

Once she reached the bathroom, Botan tried to close the door before Shuichi could even come in but he stopped her easily by pushing the door open, automatically causing her to nearly fall on her butt.

"What the hell are you doing! This is invading people's privacy, you know!"

"Is that a crime?"

"It is when it's sexual harassment!"

"I'm not doing anything inappropriate."

"Doesn't this count as something inappropriate?!"

"Not really when it's you I'm in the bathroom with."

Botan wanted to pull her hair out of their roots; she also wanted to hurt Shuichi so bad. Grr, he was always trying to make her angry just for his own entertainment! That was just who he was whenever he was with her; teasing, seductive, and sometimes even sarcastic, and frustrating!

She was about to yell at him but he silenced her by letting out a howl of laughter, as if he was amused to see her getting so furious. Botan would've gotten even more pissed off, but she didn't. She was more preoccupied with staring at his lovely face.

Shuichi looked so…charming when he laughed like that. How come she had never noticed it before? Maybe it was because she was now aware of her feelings towards it that made her even more conscious to everything about him?

Even though he was always so infuriating with that perverted personality of his, Botan would hate it if he used it with some other girl… But then again, she was the only girl he'd ever treat this way right?

"Botan."

She immediately snapped out of her daze when Shuichi's voice reached her ears. She looked down and saw that he was handing her a pink toothbrush.

Her nose wrinkled in disgust. "Eww…is that Yusuke's toothbrush? I'm not going to use it! Isn't there another one or something?"

"Actually," He smiled and Botan's heart raced, "this isn't Yusuke's. It doesn't belong to anyone. Yusuke has a tendency to buy things he doesn't need sometimes."

She ignored her pounding heart and asked, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, he bought a lot of toothbrush. He said he'll need to use them in case his old one would get damaged someday."

A scowl. "So how would you know he hasn't used this one yet?"

"That's because he keeps his toothbrush in his own room."

Botan made a face. "Who does that?"

"Yusuke does," Shuichi said, a small smile forming on his lips. "He said he doesn't want anyone to 'steal' his precious toothbrush from him until he needs to use a new one."

"As if anyone would want to!" She couldn't help but giggle.

Shuichi laughed. "Thankfully, he never did need a new one. So, he keeps a collection of them in this," he told her, pointing at a big glass with at least a dozen of toothbrushes in it.

"Wow…" Botan mumbled, a sweatdrop forming at the back of her head. "Yusuke sure is a weird guy, isn't he?"

"Yes, he is…"

Shuichi grabbed a blue one and turned to look at his reflection in the mirror only to blink when he saw Botan's reflection staring at him with a frown embedded on her forehead. "What?"

"You're going to brush here?" she asked the most unexpected question.

"Where else should I brush my teeth?" he answered her bluntly.

"But, I'm going to brush mine first!" she whined.

He smiled at her, patted her head and watched as her cheeks puffed at his treatment. "The mirror's big enough for the two of us, Botan."

"I don't care. I'm still going to brush mine before you do!"

"You're stubborn, you know that?"

"Oh, yeah? Well, newsflash, Shuichi! You're stubborner…"

"I don't think that's a word."

"Whatever, smart ass!"

"You should stop shouting, Botan."

"What are you gonna do about it?"

An eyebrow immediately arched at her words, a smug smirk tugged at Shuichi's lips as he peered over her predatorily. "Is that a challenge?"

"What do you think?" she shot back. "You're the genius here, right? So what are you going to do to make me shut up?"

As instantly as she said that, his hand reached to grab her arm, and before Botan could even comprehend what was happening, Shuichi's warm lips was molded against hers. The kiss was enticingly heated as he moved expertly along her; tongue sliding across her moistened lips.

Botan was so surprise by the kiss that she couldn't even move. Then she felt his tongue trying to enter her mouth, and as if on instincts, Botan open her mouth to allow his tongue to enter.

The wet appendage moving in sync with her own perfectly, captivating circles twirling and pressuring her down south with a flurry of fervor. The both of them let a string of ethereal moans as they kept up the pace with ease.

Shuichi then moved his hand slowly up her thigh, slipping into her night dress, traveling up her skin and was about to reach the line of her panties when a voice suddenly spoke teasingly,

"Now what do we have here?"

Botan immediately pushed Shuichi away, her amethyst eyes widening and a blush appearing on her face when she saw Hiei standing at the door, his arms crossed and a smirk plastered on his lips. Shuichi, on the other hand, was sporting a rather annoyed look on his features.

"Hiei, what are you doing here?" Shuichi asked, trying not to sound as if he was irritated.

Ignoring his friend's question, Hiei went on, "Oh, sorry. Did I disturb your moment?"

Shuichi sighed. "Hiei…" he said, his voice warning Hiei not to continue any further.

Hiei caught on Shuichi's tone and shrugged his shoulders, but the smirk was still lingering at the corner of his mouth. "I never thought you were the type of guy who does it in the bathroom, Minamino."

"Shut up, Hiei."

The shorter male decided he shouldn't push the redhead any longer, and began to walk away, not forgetting to smirk at Shuichi's direction before he did.

Once they were both sure that Hiei was gone, they glanced at each other but Botan looked away with a deep red color on her cheeks while Shuichi just smiled softly at her.

"W-well, we should just brush already…so we can shower faster…" Botan stuttered under her breath, her trembling hand squeezing the toothpaste on to her toothbrush.

Shuichi hummed in response, the smile still placed on his lips. "Whatever you say, neko-chan~!"

The girl shot him a glare. "Stop calling me that!"

"Aww~! Is my neko-chan angwy?" He used the most annoying baby-talk tone Botan had ever heard and started poking her cheek.

She rolled her eyes. _'Yeah, bring that finger closer so I can bite it, will ya?' _she resisted the urge to say that though and just yelled, "Firstly, I am not your anything and secondly, I told you to stop calling me that!"

"Fine, fine. You win. I'll call you Botan, better?"

"Much."

After that they proceeded to brush their teeths (when did Shuichi even squeezed the toothpaste on to his toothbrush, Botan didn't know). About a minute later, both of them lowered their heads to the sink to spit.

"Hey, move your head!" he said, his mouth filled with foamy toothpaste.

"How about you move yours?" she replied. Wow, talking with toothpaste in your mouth is weird…

Neither of them moved and spat at the same time. Then…Botan just realized that she didn't spit in the sink… She was trying hard not to laugh; she was even biting her lower lip. Slowly, Shuichi lifted his head. The expression on his face was what people would call a mixture of anger and grossed out. But, mostly anger though.

"Botan…did you just spit in my hair?" He stared at his reflection in the mirror, his left eye twitching as he wiped away the small bit of foamy toothpaste out of his hair.

"Pfft, no…" Botan denied. She knew it was no use lying at this point, but still…

He then turned his head to look at her, and she could've sworn there was a dark, black aura surrounding him… "You are so dead."

Hearing the words coming out in a threatening tone from Shuichi, Botan immediately planned her escape.

"Uh…you know what, Shuichi? You should bath first! Yeah, yeah! I'll go second," she blurted out shakily, turning around and fled from the bathroom before he could even vent his anger out on her.

* * *

><p>To Botan's utter relief, Shuichi didn't do anything to her. When he had come out of the bathroom (with only a towel covering his body), he had just smiled at her. Botan didn't know if she should be glad or scared that he was suddenly acting so nice around her… She was sure he was plotting something!<p>

Well, maybe his anger just died down? She mused to herself as she slipped the white sweater on to her body – Shizuru lend it to her since she had pretty much brought a few clothes with her for them to wear (Botan suspected she had planned to stay over at Yusuke's apartment before Yusuke had even offered them to). Still, the thought of Shuichi's wrath suddenly disappearing into thin air like that didn't settle well with her…

It was as if she could sense he was up to something bad.

Shrugging it off, Botan just concluded that Shuichi probably didn't have any spirit to have his payback on her. Or maybe, he just didn't want his friends to see what he was about to do.

Oh well! She was going to hang out with the girls (along with the boys and that included Shuichi) that day, so she might as well just go and enjoy herself without having to worry if Shuichi was going to do something to her.

She went out of the room (Yusuke and the others had left to provide her some space to change into her clothes) and upon opening the door, she was greeted by the sight of Hiei who was wearing only his dark pants, yelling at Kuwabara who had his towel clad to his body.

Botan didn't catch on half the curses Hiei was saying, and she could've sworn she had never seen such an angered expression on anyone's face before that could even matched the one Hiei was sporting. But why was he so ticked off at Kuwabara anyway?

"Uh, what's going on here?" she asked uncertainly, her brows creasing.

Hiei shot a death glare at her – for what reason, she didn't know ("_What the hell did I do to him?_"). "Don't you even dare ask…"

Before Botan could even retort to that, Yusuke (unlike his friends, he was fully clothed) sprinted out of the bathroom with an ear-to-ear grin stuck to his face. She could tell he was trying to hold back his laughter, but it didn't work as he ended up laughing his soul out and rolling on the floor.

"Shut up, Urameshi! This is not funny!" Hiei shouted at him, his voice stern and threatening; the delinquent ignored his warning though and just kept laughing.

Botan, on the other hand, was even more confused.

Kuwabara who had been quiet ever since, suddenly spoke, "You know, Hiei. You don't have to be so pissed off at me because of-"

"How would _you_ feel if _I _came into the bathroom when _you _were urinating?!"

Eh?

Kuwabara came in while Hiei was…? So did that mean Kuwabara saw Hiei's…?

Weird images began to conjure themselves in Botan's mind, and her face drained of color at the thoughts.

Opposite to the pale look now plastered on Botan's features, Yusuke was now laughing harder at Hiei's words, as if it was hilarious. "G-god…! I've…*laughs* never seen *laughs*…funny shit like this!"

"Urameshi!" Hiei warned once again, but once again Yusuke pretended he didn't hear it. Well, maybe he really didn't, judging by the loud way he was laughing…

"Hiei," Kuwabara called his name, earning a glare from the shorter male in return, "Why are you overreacting about me seeing your-"

"_Ha_?!"

"-_that_," the carrot-top said as if it was something normal, and crossed his arms over his chest as he went on, "To remind you, I have one, too."

That was it, Yusuke couldn't stop laughing now. It was obvious he was watching the funniest thing in his entire life. And Botan decided to walk away before the boys said anything else that could damage her mind even more.

The last thing she saw though was Kuwabara falling to the ground with Hiei on top of him and trying to beat the hell out of him.

"I'm surrounded by crazy people…" she muttered under her breath, a sweatdrop forming at the back of her head.

As instantly as she sauntered into the living room though, Botan found herself tackled to the table and felled to the floor, her head smacking into the corner of the coffee table. "Ouch…" she let out a groan, rubbing the side of her aching head.

Flicking her eyes open and was about to yell at the 'perpetrator', only to cut herself short when she saw no one other than Shuichi himself, with a grin tugging at his lips (or was that a crooked grin?)

That was when she noticed that they were both wedged awkwardly between the couch and the coffee table which meant that she couldn't push away without hitting her head on the table again. Despite the embarrassment creeping up to her skin by the close proximity of their bodies, Botan asked sternly, "S-Shuichi, what the hell are you doing?! What if someone sees us?!" and tried to keep a composed expression on her face, but failed miserably when she blushed.

"Keiko and the girls went to the shopping mall, but don't worry, they didn't leave you or anything. They just went there first since you were taking a long time getting dressed. They told me to tell you that they would be waiting there." His grin widened slightly. "Of course I'm not planning to let you go anytime soon."

God, the girls had to be gone at the wrong time, did they?! She gulped loudly. "I think that's pretty much obvious, I'm not stupid you know?" Botan then added, "Yusuke, Hiei and Kuwabara is still here."

"Hiei and Kuwabara are too busy fighting, and Yusuke's laughing too hard to even notice anything weird is going on," Shuichi told her, and Botan paled when she felt his hands moving down to her waist.

"What are you trying to do…?"

His eyes blinked, and the crooked grin was replaced by a childish expression. "Getting my revenge~!"

"E-eh?! Is this about me spitting in your hair?"

"What else?"

"It's not like I did it on purpose!"

"You still need to be punished."

"_Huh_?!" Botan cried out indignantly and was about to yell some more when Shuichi suddenly started to tickle her, eliciting a surprised whimper from her in return.

She tried to wriggle under the coffee table, but unfortunately, her efforts only succeeded in causing her to hit her head…again.

"Shuichi!" she whimpered out, calling out his name so that he would get the idea that she was warning him and telling him to stop. She tried to sound as if she was threatening him; that obviously didn't work though as it only came out in a somewhat mixture of a laugh and pant.

Shuichi smirked, ignoring the way Botan called him, and pausing in tickling her. "I like the image of you writhing around while screaming my name," and was that a purr?

Blood immediately rushed to Botan's cheeks as she caught on his dirty words, and feeling the embarrassment and anger mounting inside her. Oh yay, there was that perverted side of him again… How lovely.

She was about to yell out her wrath at him, but stopped herself from doing so when an idea entered her mind. She didn't know if it was the best idea or not, but she didn't care at the moment. As long as he would get off of her (or at least, stop trying to embarrass her with his dirty words) and it would also be amusing to catch him off guard…

"Shuichi," Botan said his name seductively, making sure her voice was tempting enough to make him shiver. And as she expected, he did.

"What?" he asked, attempting to sound as collected as possible but that obviously wasn't successful when his voice came out in a mere low, husky whisper.

She grinned at him and he couldn't help but shiver once again when her hands suddenly guided both of his hands away from her waist and slowly, she brought one of them to her cheek and nuzzled her nose against his skin.

He gulped down a lump. "If you're trying to seduce me, then it's not working," he lied.

To Shuichi's utter shock, Botan smirked and let go of his hands, letting her own travel up his chest, to his shoulders and finally wrap around his neck as she pulled him down to her. "Really? 'Cause it seems to me as if it's working really well," she whispered into his ear, blowing a hot air.

Shuichi opened his mouth to retaliate but he didn't manage to utter a word when she licked his earlobe, eliciting a groan from him. "Botan, stop… I won't be able to control myself if you keep this up…"

"Then don't hold back," her words came out in whispers and Shuichi muttered a few protests only to cut himself off when Botan said in a desperate voice, "Shuichi… I need you to _touch me_…"

Her voice sounded so needy and lustful that he was so shocked, he pulled away from her, but he backed away too far and his head smacked hard against the coffee table. He winced and rubbed his head, only to blink when the girl beneath him suddenly snickered. "Don't you think my acting is just amazing?"

Shuichi seemed to catch on her real intent and he growled, "That was a very, very bad idea, neko-chan."

Botan gave him a smug smile. "What'cha gonna do about it? Tickle me all you like but I will never apologize!" she blurted out without thinking.

Shuichi's annoyed expression changed into a smirk.

She really regretted saying that. She really, really regretted saying that.

He started tickling her again, not even stopping for one second to let her catch her breath. She yelled, kicked and scream, she even started crying at one point, but he still didn't stop. She really, really, really regretted saying that. And to make matters worse, she hit her head again. This time it was even harder than the previous hits. Her head suddenly began to throb, and the room was going in weird blurry circles.

"Shu-" Botan almost threw up. The feeling was not pleasant, it was threatening to come out and she held a hand to her mouth, her face pale. Shuichi immediately stopped his tickling, concern and panic written all over his face – as if he was scared that he was the one who caused it.

And she didn't know why but she started laughing uncontrollably, then came the tears and it didn't take long for Shuichi to realize Botan was going into shock. She must've hit her head too many times.

At just the right time, Hiei, Kuwabara and Yusuke came in and stood shock at the scene while Botan cried her eyes out and Shuichi just sat there, a guilty look crossing his face.

"Botan, are you okay? Shuichi, what did you do!" Kuwabara's worried look changed into an infuriated one as he turned to peer at his redhead friend who looked back at him.

Shuichi would've laughed at the bruises on the carrot-top's face if he wasn't worried over Botan and he decided not to acknowledge Kuwabara, and just cupped Botan's cheek gently, running his thumb over her skin.

…What was this feeling? It was as if his heart sank at the thought of him causing this, made something…eat at him. It was as if he was angry at himself for doing this to her.

He watched as Botan took in gulps of air, trying to calm herself down enough to talk. But Shuichi didn't let her, and told the others, "Concussion."

Then he pushed the table away rather harshly and picked her up, bridal style, and lifting her off the ground.

"We got stuck under the table, and she…Botan hit her head, and got concussion," he explained even further when he saw the still confused looks on Yusuke and Kuwabara's faces – Hiei didn't look like he cared much though.

"Oh," Kuwabara nodded in understanding, "I think Botan should stay here today."

Yusuke nodded his head in a form of agreement, only to frown when something else came into his mind. "But we can't leave her alone, you know? What if something bad happens to her?"

"You have a point…"

Shuichi's voice chimed in. "I'll stay here and look after her."

The two turned their heads to him, while Hiei just crossed his arms over his chest with his eyes closed.

"Okay, if you say so," Yusuke agreed, shrugging his shoulders off.

Kuwabara then teasingly added, "Plus, you can spend some time alone with your _girlfriend_," and he had expected for Shuichi to blush or even stare incredulously at him, but he just got a weak smile in return.

There was silence for a moment before Hiei broke it, "Let's just get the hell out of here already."

The other two averted their gazes at him and nodded their heads, the three of them sauntering over to the door and not forgetting to bid their farewells at Shuichi and telling him to take good care of Botan.

Once the door was closed, Shuichi looked down at Botan who was clinging on to him tightly, and trying her hardest not to vomit. He smiled apologetically, and distantly heard her mumble, "Shuichi…" He blinked, wondering if he heard right or if he was just hearing things.

He shrugged it off though. "Just get some rest," Shuichi said softly.

* * *

><p>"Oi, Keiko!"<p>

Yusuke waved a hand at the three girls – mostly Keiko though. The three girls were sporting worried expressions all over their faces.

They seemed to notice him as they rotated their heads to the right, to see the three boys walking over to where they were standing at – the center of the shopping mall.

"Yusuke!" Keiko cried out to her boyfriend as soon as they were in front of each other. "Where's Botan? We've been waiting for her for ages!"

"Ah, Botan." Yusuke scratched the back of his head. "She got concussion."

"Concussion?" Yukina echoed, her brows furrowing slightly. "How did that happen?"

"Shuichi said Botan hit her head."

"Hit her head?" This time Shizuru repeated, raising an eyebrow quizzically at him as she pulled out her cigarette from her mouth. "Now how did _that _happen?"

Yusuke just shrugged his shoulders.

Yukina, Keiko and Shizuru exchanged glances, still looking very concern. Hearing Botan's condition had obviously lowered their spirits.

Kuwabara was aware of this and immediately added, "Look, let's just all have fun okay? Shuichi's taking care of Botan, so I'm sure she'll be alright."

Yukina turned to look at him with a small smile. "I guess you're right, Kazuma-kun."

"Of course, I, the mighty Kuwabara, am always right!" Kuwabara began to act as if he was the best, showing off in front of his beloved Yukina, who just giggled at him.

Hiei scoffed. "Mighty my ass…"

"What was that, Hiei?!"

"Oh great, you're deaf, too…"

"Why you little mouse!"

"Children!" Yusuke butted in before Hiei and Kuwabara could even get into a more serious fight. He earned death glares from his two friends but fortunately, they backed off nonetheless, grumbling under their breaths.

"Kuwabara, Hiei already kicked your ass earlier. You wouldn't want an uglier face than the one you have now, would you?"

"QUIET, URAMESHI! I was holding back! I could've beaten him up easily."

Hiei snickered, while Yusuke rolled his eyes sarcastically. "Yeah, right…"

This time an argument was about to occur between Yusuke and Kuwabara, but they were stopped before they could utter another curse word at each other when Yukina suddenly stepped in with an eager smile on her face.

"Ne, ne, everyone~!" she squealed excitedly. "Let's try having a party tonight!"

Shizuru frowned. "Party? You mean at Yusuke's apartment?"

Yukina shook her head, the smile still plastered on her face. "I mean, an animal costume party and we can also go to a haunted house!"

"This isn't Halloween, Yukina…" Keiko mumbled.

"I know! But who says we can't? My brother and I even have an idea on which haunted house to go to!" the smaller girl said desperately before turning to look at her big brother with determination in her eyes. "Right?"

Hiei arched an eyebrow at her, and tried to say no, but there she goes again, giving him that puppy-eyes look. He sighed, "Right…"

"Okay, let's just say we go to this "_haunted_" house of yours, we can't really go since we don't even have any animal costumes to wear," Yusuke told her, making a quotation sign at the word 'haunted'.

Yukina smiled at the delinquent's direction. "Don't worry, I made at least nine of them, so you guys can borrow them. I've always wanted to do this!"

"I can't help but think she's actually planned this…" Yusuke mumbled to no one in particular.

The others – except Yukina who was too busy twirling in excitement – heard him but none of them acknowledge him.

"How are you sure they're gonna fit, Yukina?" Shizuru asked.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that! I've made sure they fit all of us."

"What about Botan?"

"I'm sure she'll fit one of them."

"As expected of my beloved Yukina-chan!" Kuwabara suddenly butted in, praising the girl with love in his eyes.

Yukina once again just giggled, while the others rolled their eyes.

Keiko then looked as if she just remembered something. "Wait, are you even sure Botan will be healthy enough to go with us? And you said nine, right? There's only eight of us, who are we gonna ask to come?"

"I don't know, maybe we should just use eight of the costumes. We don't need to use all of them," Yukina answered her. "And I'm sure Botan will be fine."

Keiko didn't look convinced. "Yeah, but…"

"Come on, let's just call Shuichi later and ask him if they could join us," Yusuke replied.

"That's a great idea, Urameshi!" Kuwabara praised. "For once you actually thought of something smart."

Yusuke resisted the urge to bash Kuwabara's face in. "Don't push me, KUWABARA!"

* * *

><p>It had been at least two hours since Yusuke, Kuwabara and Hiei left the apartment. So now Botan was just lounging there in the living room, doing nothing...with her head on Shuichi's lap. They say people weren't supposed to sleep when they have concussion and apparently, TV wasn't good either so Botan had nothing to do except just stare at Shuichi.<p>

He stared back. "Are you still mad?"

"What do you think?" she shot back.

Shuichi heaved out a sigh. And the calm expression on his face was replaced by something Botan could only identify as a mixture of guilt and concern. Suddenly she was feeling guilty, her condition was better now and here she was, getting angry at Shuichi who was already regretting tickling her in the first place. Her concussion was gone now, all that was left was a bit of pain on her head. But nothing serious.

"Look, Botan. Sorry, if it wasn't because of me, this wouldn't…"

She cut him off, "Don't say you're sorry. It's not that bad, it's just concussion. Plus, I'm feeling better now, there's just a slight pain on my head, but I think the concussion's gone now."

He let out a sigh of relief at her words. "Really? That's great then. I was worried it was serious…"

"You worry too much, you'll get wrinkles if you keep doing that," she joked, trying to ease the atmosphere for a bit.

He laughed. "I'll still look handsome though."

She rolled her eyes in response. "Narcissistic jerk."

He laughed even more, and Botan couldn't help but smile. "I don't get why you didn't go with the boys, you should've followed them, you didn't have to stay here," she told him. She had actually heard Shuichi's conversation with the boys before they left; she might've had concussion but she wasn't deaf.

"I can't just leave you here," he retorted, and when she opened her mouth to counter, he added, "Plus, it's my way of paying my debt. You've taken care of me before, this time it's my turn," reminding her of the time when he got a fever.

She blinked before widening her smile. "You won't do anything to me while I'm a bit weak now, would you?" she asked him.

"Why? Scared I'll rape you?" he playfully answered, his lips quirked up into a smirk.

"Well, seeing as you are a pervert, I wouldn't be surprised if you did," she countered.

"I'd watch my words if I were you. I might do it for real," he said, trying to scare her off and it obviously worked when her face paled, eliciting a laugh from him. "Relax, Botan. I'm just joking."

The color returned to her face and she pouted. "Pervert."

"You like calling me that don't you?"

"That's because it's true."

"Look who's talking, I think you enjoy my advances as much as I enjoy doing them."

She rolled her eyes, but he didn't miss the slight pink on her cheeks. "Huh? What does that mean?"

"I think you love it when I kiss you, I know you do," Shuichi teased, poking her slightly on the nose.

Botan's blush deepened. "W-what?!"

"I'm right, aren't I?"

"Shut up, Shuichi!" she shouted at him, earning a small laugh in return. She scowled, ignoring her heating face and her racing heartbeat. "I don't like your kisses; you don't have any prove that I do!"

Uh-oh. Why did she say that?

Shuichi gave her his infamous seductive smirk and to Botan's embarrassment, his head bent down and their noses were now touching. "Want me to prove it now?" he whispered, looking straight into her eyes.

She gulped. "Shuichi…"

RING! RING! RING!

Shuichi's cellphone went off at the exactly wrong time. His left eyebrow twitched, and he took a few deep, calming breaths before finally snatching the machinery out of his pocket and snapped, "What?"

Botan, on the other hand, couldn't help but feel disappointed that he didn't manage to 'prove' his point. _'GAHHHH!'_

* * *

><p>"<em>What?"<em> Shuichi's voice snapped and Yusuke couldn't help the snicker that found its way to his lips.

"Hey, chill! Did I interrupt a make-out session or something?"

The other side was silent for about five minutes and Yusuke had to wonder if the redhead hung up, but before he could give it any further thought, Shuichi finally spoke, _"Do you have a reason for calling, Yusuke?" _suddenly changing the subject.

The delinquent raised an eyebrow at this, but shrugged it off (he was grinning though). "Yukina suggested going to some haunted house while wearing animal costumes tonight."

"_Why animal costumes?"_

"Don't know, but she said she made them already. I'm telling you, she planned this!"

He heard a chuckle from the other side. _"Perhaps."_

"So, is Botan up to it? I mean, I wouldn't want to worsen her condition or anything…"

"_Don't worry, Yusuke. She told me she's fine and the concussion's gone now." _

Before he could reply, Yusuke heard Botan's voice in the background saying something that sounded like, "What? What are you talking about?" followed with the distant sound of Shuichi's voice, "It's an animal costume party." Then a feminine squeal.

After a while, Shuichi spoke again, this time referring to Yusuke, _"We'll go. Botan's excited about it."_

"Yeah, I can hear her," Yusuke couldn't help but laugh. "She's really loud, isn't she? I wonder how loud she is in bed… You don't happen to know, do you?" he joked.

"_I wish, but she'll kill me if I do anything."_

"Dude, seriously? You _actually _thought of having _that_ with her?" Yusuke asked him, and snickered.

"_I'm just kidding, Yusuke."_

"Jeez, she'd be upset if she hears you don't think of her like that. I mean, it's almost as if you don't think she's hot."

Shuichi suddenly sounded panicked. _"Not that I don't think she's attractive, Yusuke! She is, and anyone who doesn't think that would be insane! But it's not like I think of sleeping with her everyday!"_

Yusuke laughed wholeheartedly, only to stop when he heard an exasperated cry (from Botan) and what sounded like a loud slap. "Er, Shuichi?"

He didn't get anything in response, instead he heard Shuichi yelling, _"What the hell is wrong with you, woman?!"_

After that, he heard the sound of Botan shouting back with a, "I'll kill you," followed by the noise of struggling and something falling and as instantly as the sound came, there was a beep, which meant Shuichi had hung up. Though Yusuke suspected that something else happened.

He sweatdropped. "Wow…"

As soon as he said that, Keiko and the others suddenly came into view (they went to buy some soda cans), his girlfriend waving a hand at him and he waved back.

Once they were close enough, "So how did it go?" Keiko asked him.

He shrugged his shoulders, but the brunette didn't miss the grin on his lips. She decided to ignore it though. "Shuichi agreed, and he said Botan's better now."

Keiko heaved a sigh of relief at this, while the others smiled – except Hiei who just remained expressionless.

"That's good." Kuwabara nodded his head once.

Yukina then let out a girlish squeal, "I can't wait for tonight! And seeing as Botan's okay now, it makes me more excited!"

They all laughed at her, except Kuwabara, who was now back to flirting with his 'beloved' Yukina and Hiei, who was shooting death glares at the carrot-top.

But then, a familiar voice reached their ears.

"Yo! It's been a long time."

They whipped their heads to the owner and saw no one other than their old friend…

_Koenma_.

At that exact moment, an idea came to Yusuke, and slowly, he smirked…

'_Now this is gonna be great…'_

* * *

><p>"I can't believe you would even think that!"<p>

"I'm a _man_, Botan! I'd be gay if I didn't think about…"

Before Shuichi could even blurt out the word, Botan hit him in the chest, silencing him immediately, and earning a wince from him. He glared at her, and she glared back.

"So are you saying you've thought about it with other girls?!"

"Huh? When did I ever say that?"

"You said you're a man and you'd be gay if you didn't think about doing _that _with girls! To me, that's a translation of you thinking about having _that _with _other girls_!"

Shuichi rolled his eyes exasperatedly. "Just because I'd think about it sometimes, doesn't mean I think about doing it with every girl I know!"

"I didn't say every girl!"

"It's the same no matter what you say, Botan!"

She opened her mouth to roar back but he cut her short. "Listen, I've never thought of girls like that. Sure, I'll admit some of them attract me, but never has the thought occur to me. Why should it? None of those girls matter to me much."

"What about me then?" Botan blurted out without thinking, and as soon as she saw something flashed in his eyes, she realized what she just asked, both of her hands flying to her mouth and a blush appearing on her face.

Before he could even answer her, she cut him off. "Argh! I can't believe we're even talking about _this_! It's so ridiculous! You know what, forget I even asked!"

Silence soon followed her words, before Shuichi broke it off, "Botan, you are attractive…"

"Yeah, but I guess I don't matter to you either, do I?" Her voice was cracking, and it didn't go unnoticed by the redhead.

He sighed. "That's not what I meant. You're attractive, and I care about you, Botan."

She turned to look at him, her eyes meeting his and he smiled. "And about that subject we were talking about… I-"

"Forget it, it's not important."

Shuichi's eyes blinked, and he was even about to ask her what she meant, only to be silenced by a pair of soft, warm lips slamming against his, catching him off guard because Botan had never initiated a kiss before.

The shock soon died down and his tongue poked out to lick at her bottom lip, asking for permission. But, instead of obliging to his silent request, Botan pulled away, earning a groan from Shuichi in return.

"Botan," he said desperately. Desperate to kiss those lips again.

She didn't seem to hear him though, and just stared at the phone which was now on the ground. It had fallen when she was trying to hit Shuichi earlier.

"Shuichi, you're cellphone…"

"I don't care, Botan."

"Yeah, I know. But, what if it's broken?! Oh my god, I'm so sorry, Shuichi! I didn't mean to-"

She was cut off by a low, husky whisper. "Shut up, Botan."

And before she could even register what happened, Shuichi's lips pressed against hers in a hot, passionate, and demanding kiss.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. It belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi.**

**You're Not So Bad**

**Chapter 11**

"Hello, mother?" Shuichi said as soon as the call was connected. He heard the sound of rustling followed with a cough from the other side.

"_Hello, Shuichi. Where are you? Why aren't you guys home yet? It's night already!" _Shiori's voice sounded distressed and Shuichi couldn't help but feel sorry for not calling her earlier and worrying her.

"We're still at Yusuke's, mother. Sorry for not telling you sooner, but my friends have other plans tonight so we're going to hang out somewhere. Don't worry though, Botan and I will be home soon."

Shiori sighed in relief. _"Oh it's fine, honey. I'm just glad you're okay. When are you coming home?"_

"We don't know yet," Shuichi answered her truthfully, his brows creasing slightly. He realized for a moment he didn't even know where this so-called haunted house was and for all he knew, it could be far. They would undoubtedly spend some time there, and if it was far away, then going back would take a long time, too. So Shuichi wasn't really certain. "I'll call you when we get back."

"_Oh, okay. I'll wait for you guys."_

His frown deepened. "No, don't. If we come home too late or around midnight, don't stay up and wait for us."

"_Ah, it's okay, Shuichi!"_

"I would like it better if you save your energy, mother. I don't want to be a nuisance to you," he told her.

The other side was silent for about three seconds, and Shuichi could tell that his mother was scowling now. _"You're not a nuisance, Shuichi. I can wait; you don't have to worry about your old mother."_

He was about to protest, but knowing that Shiori was sometimes a bit stubborn, he decided against it and just smiled. "You're not old."

He heard a soft giggle. _"Oh, Shuichi, you flatter me so much. Now remember, don't be so concerned over me, just go and have fun. Take care of Botan-chan too, okay? And tell her I said hi. Bye, honey."_

Shuichi nodded his head once. "Okay, mother. Bye..." He heard a beep, signaling that she had ended the call and put the phone back into his pocket (good thing the costume had pockets, or else he didn't know where else to keep his cellphone), before averting his gaze to Botan, who was studying herself in the mirror.

She noticed he was staring at her so she turned around to look at him. "Is everything okay with Shiori?"

The redhead grinned. "Yes, everything's fine, and she said hi."

Botan smiled at his words, a sigh of relief escaping her lips and she asked, "What do you think? Do I look okay?" for his opinion.

Shuichi then took a moment to scrutinize her appearance. Her long hair was let loose, stopping just above her hips. She was clothed in a black haori with pink peony patters on it, accompanied with a black sash around her waist. He couldn't see what she was wearing below the haori, but he took notice of the dark blue leggings wrapping her legs and the pair of Japanese sandals.

Of course, it wouldn't be an animal costume if she didn't have those black cat ears on her head – Yukina added a small bell on the left ear to put in more cuteness in Botan's costume and the fluffy tail which was the same color as her ears.

Shuichi gulped down a lump. She looked...alluring. And the costume suit her, he had to admit. He couldn't really describe her beauty in words, she was just so...stunning. Despite that, he replied casually, "You look...nice."

She pouted at his comment, obviously expecting more. "Just nice?" Her voice tinted in disappointment as she asked this.

His lips quirked up into a small smile, and Shuichi noted how cute Botan looked making that face. "Fine, fine. You're beautiful, just like an angel."

A blush immediately spread on her face at his compliment. "R-right, thanks." She looked away for a moment, and then averted her eyes back to him. "You don't look bad either."

He was just wearing a normal, white hakama but he still looked handsome in it. His red hair was as vibrant as ever, and the cute white fox ears on top of his head made him look more striking. There was also that big, fluffy tail of his... Not to mention, hakama hung slightly loosely around his neck, revealing a bit of his chest. Oh, what she would give just to lay her head there...

Botan's blush considerably deepened at the image that she nearly conjured up in her mind. _"GAHHH! I'm going to be insane if this keeps up!" _

Good thing Shuichi didn't seem to notice her red face, as his eyes was more preoccupied studying his own clothes but as instantly as he was done staring at himself, he lifted his head up to look at her and was immediately aware of the red tinting her cheeks.

Shuichi couldn't help but smirk at this, and Botan saw this, her blush reddening – if that was even possible – even more as she realized the mischievous glint he held in those emerald eyes of his. "What's wrong, Botan? You look as if you have a fever." He pretended not to know, and cocked his head to the side.

"S-shut up, Shuichi…" she muttered under her breath, knowing that Shuichi heard it when he let out a laugh.

"It's okay, Botan, you can look all you want. I don't mind."

The girl puffed her cheeks at his words. "D-don't flatter yourself, you conceited jerk!"

He laughed some more, but his laugh only lasted for about ten seconds before it finally vanished into thin air. He smiled softly at her, and she couldn't help the fast way her heart was beating now, causing her to look away in embarrassment.

The moment didn't last for long as Yusuke's voice reached their ears. "Oi, Botan, Shuichi! What the hell is taking you so fucking long?!" the delinquent shouted from outside the apartment, loud enough to reach the bedroom.

A low chuckle erupted from Shuichi's chest. "I guess that's our cue to get out of here," he said.

Botan nodded her head in agreement, a smile finding its way to her lips as she heard the sound of Keiko yelling at Yusuke and saying something about Yusuke disturbing other people with his loud shout, followed with laughs and giggles from their friends.

It was then she felt someone's hand claiming hers, squeezing slightly and she turned to look at Shuichi who was sporting a slight pink on his cheeks.

She blinked before her smile broadened.

* * *

><p>"So, are Botan and Shuichi okay?" Yukio asked, frowning slightly, his dark purple eyes in a pool of concern as he peered over Shiori.<p>

The woman smiled at him. "They're okay, just going out with friends."

"Going out? At this time of night? Where the hell are they going?" he inquired incredulously.

Shiori giggled. "Sweetheart," she started, "I don't think we should worry about them, they'll be fine."

"I'm not worried," Yukio corrected. "Just wondering."

His lips then quirked up into an ear-to-ear grin, "Well, since we have the whole house to ourselves…"

A smile once again spread on Shiori's face at her lover's words.

* * *

><p>"Sorry for the wait, guys," Botan said cheerfully, a bright smile making its way to her lips.<p>

"Nah…it's fine, we don't mind," Keiko insisted, waving her hand nonchalantly in front of her face.

"_I _mind," Yusuke said, earning a glare from his girlfriend in return, to which he pretended not to notice and shoved his hands in the pockets of his dog costume.

Botan peered over at her other friends, and saw Kuwabara and Hiei fighting over something, Yukina and Shizuru chatting and a brown-haired boy she didn't know trying to get Kuwabara and Hiei to stop fighting.

He was a pretty handsome one, with his brown hair and hazel eyes and the wolf costume he was wearing certainly made him look even better-looking. She noticed him before when the others had gone back to Yusuke's, saying something about him coming along in their "little adventure". But she never did get the time to ask his name.

She wondered who he was and was about to go talk to him when Keiko suddenly gushed, "You look soooo adorable, Botan!" and she immediately forgot what she was about to do.

She diverted her attention to Keiko and giggled, her cheeks slightly pink in color. "The same goes for you, Keiko," she praised back, noting the hamster costume her brunette friend was clad in.

Keiko's grin widened, obviously glee that Botan thought she looked good. Nonetheless, she insisted, "No. You look better than I do, Botan."

Botan blushed beet red at Keiko's compliment. "N-no, that's not true, you look prettier."

"No, no, you're prettier than I am."

"No, you are!"

"No, I'm not! You are, Botan!"

The girls exchanged turns in insisting the other looked better, not noticing the sweatdrop at the back of Shuichi's head and Yusuke who was looking ticked off. They would've continued if it weren't for Yusuke (who got tired of it) cutting them off.

"Will you guys stop it with the darn compliments?!"

Botan just blinked while Keiko scoffed. "You're just jealous that no one's paying _you _a compliment."

"Huh?" was Yusuke's incredulous answer. "Why the heck would I be jealous?! You think I give a shit about that?"

The couple soon started another bickering; causing Shuichi to shook his head, and sighed while Botan just laughed at their interaction.

Her laugh soon subsided though as she was approached by the same brown-haired boy earlier. He had a smile on his face and she couldn't help herself from smiling back.

"Hello," he greeted rather politely.

She greeted back with a "hello", her smile widening slightly.

"I'm Botan," she introduced herself, and held out her hand, to which he accepted and shook.

"My name is Koenma. It's nice to meet you, Botan-chan," he replied in a friendly manner, and the girl couldn't help but blush. No one had ever called her that before… Not a boy anyway.

Koenma seemed to notice this and he cocked his head to the side. "Is there something the matter, Botan-chan?"

She almost jumped at the sound of his voice. "N-no, it's nothing. Just, I'm not used to a guy I just know calling me with a…'chan'."

He smiled in understanding. "I see, but is it okay for me to…" He didn't manage to continue.

She nodded vigorously. "S-sure, I don't mind. Well, can I call you Koenma-kun then?" She got a nod as a response, and she grinned. It was just normal, right? Not like it meant anything. Botan didn't think it was a big deal.

Shuichi did though. He was frowning the whole time as he watched the two. "Chan"? Even he didn't call her like that! And why did she suddenly feel the urge to call him with a 'kun'? She'd never call him like that!

That was when he noticed their still joined hands (neither of them seemed to notice though); his scowl visibly deepened and he couldn't help the twinge of jealousy in his heart. What the hell were they doing, holding hands like that? He didn't like the idea of someone touching _his _Botan.

…Wait, Botan wasn't his. So why was he suddenly thinking that? _'What's going on with you, Shuichi," _he scolded himself.

Nonetheless, he needed to do something so they would let go. He coughed, gaining their attentions. "Don't you think you should let go of her hand now, Koenma?"

The addressed blinked, before finally realizing that he was still grabbing Botan's hand. He grinned, and immediately let go. "Sorry about that," he said, referring to the Botan.

A giggle escaped her lips. "No, it's okay, Koenma-kun. It's no biggie!" Again, Botan didn't think it was a big deal.

Shuichi on the other hand, once again thought the opposite. Koenma opened his mouth to speak, but fortunately for Shuichi, he didn't manage to get a word out as the gang started walking.

The redhead swiftly grabbed Botan's hand in his, dragged her away and _intended_ to leave Koenma behind. "Let's go, Botan."

Despite the fact she was having a hard time keeping up with his pace (_"Why was he walking so fast?"_), Botan nodded her head in response. "O-oh, alright…"

Koenma (who was left behind) blinked for a couple of times at his redheaded friend's behavior, before a smirk tugged at his lips. _'I guess that means Yusuke's plan is working…'_

Now you all must be wondering what Yusuke's plan was. Well, you see, what happened was…

"_Are you sure it's going to work?" Keiko asked in uncertainty as she stared at her boyfriend with an expression of what look like was a mix of concern and incredulous on her features._

_He turned to look at her with a wide grin on his face. "I'm fucking sure, Keiko! Trust me!" He then pointed his index finger at Koenma. "We'll just use him to make Shuichi jealous! _And_, if Shuichi does get jealous, he'll realize his feelings for Botan."_

"_So basically, Koenma flirt with Botan and try to get Shuichi jello to make him realize he loves Botan?" Kuwabara asked for the umpteenth time that day._

_Yusuke slapped his forehead. "Why do you keep asking that question? I told you, YES!" _

_The carrot-top's brows creased at his friend's reaction. "Sheesh… I was just asking."_

"_Yeah, but why the fuck do you keep asking? It's pissing me off!" Yusuke shot back, to which he earned a scowl from Kuwabara._

"_I'm just asking!" he retorted._

_Yusuke mumbled something but no one heard what it was and Kuwabara just gave him a "what?" look._

_Shizuru suddenly butted in. "How would you know this plan of yours is going to work, Yusuke?"_

_The said boy rolled his eyes. "Like I said before, just trust me! I'm confident my master plan will work."_

"_I'd like to," the woman replied. "But, how would you know if Shuichi likes her or not?"_

_Yusuke opened his mouth to answer, but before he could even say anything, Kuwabara cut him short. "Shuichi does, he just doesn't know it yet. So, by playing along with Urameshi's so-called 'master' plan, he just would."_

_Yusuke shot him a confused stare. "What do you mean so-called?"_

_Kuwabara didn't justify his question with a reply._

"_Well, genius, there's something else you didn't think about," Hiei snorted. "Shuichi would kill us all if he finds out about this."_

"_You know, he's right," Keiko said to Yusuke, and the others nodded their heads in a form of agreement, except Koenma who just blinked. _

_The delinquent rolled his eyes once again (in spite of the shiver that ran up his spine at the thought of a peeved Shuichi). "He won't literally kill us, and he won't find out."_

_Keiko opened her mouth to protest but before a sound could come out; Yusuke quickly added, "Stop ganging up on me! Just go with the plan!"_

_Keiko glowered at him. "Okay, Urameshi. But if anything happens, it's all on you."_

_Yusuke waved her off. "Yeah, yeah, whatever…" he mumbled absent-mindedly._

_Yukina's voice chimed in all of a sudden. "But, why don't we just use my brother?" _

_Hiei nearly jumped at his sister's suggestion. What? No way was he going to! He shot a glare at Yusuke, threatening him not to agree with Yukina. "You wouldn't dare…"_

_Hiei's glare didn't go unnoticed by Yusuke, but the latter just grinned at him. "You know…that wouldn't be a bad idea…"_

_At that moment, Hiei wanted nothing but choke Yusuke to death, instead of doing that though, he just glared, hoping to burn a hole into the delinquent's head._

"_But then again," Keiko added, and the others were now staring at her._

"_Hiei is Shuichi's closest friend, so I think if we use Hiei, the chances of getting caught is higher. I mean, if Hiei suddenly starts flirting with Botan, wouldn't Shuichi get suspicious?" she reasoned, mostly for the sake of Yusuke's safety _– _since Hiei really looked like he was ready to pounce on the delinquent (not that she wasn't confident of Yusuke's skills of fighting, but she'd rather spend the day without seeing her boyfriend getting punched or kicked, thank you)._

_A knowing look passed Yukina's face. "Oh, okay then."_

_Hiei didn't say anything, but he was more than relieved._

_Yusuke pouted, disappointed that they weren't able to use Hiei instead of Koenma. But then diverted his attention to the said brown-haired boy and asked, "So what do you think? You up to it?"_

_Koenma cupped his chin in his index finger and thumb. He thought about it for about seven seconds before finally shrugging his shoulders. "Oh, what the heck, it would be interesting to see the usually calm Shuichi lose his cool."_

_Yusuke broke into an ear-to-ear grin. "YOSH!" He raised a fist up in the air, determination written all over his face. "Let the "Make Shuichi Jealous so He Knows How He Feels For Botan" Operation commence!" With that said the delinquent let out a howl of evil laughter. __**(A/N: LOL, evil.)**_

_The others sweatdropped at the lame name Yusuke gave the so-called "operation", but more at the sinister way he was laughing._

Koenma grinned and his eyes stared as Shuichi dragged Botan farther and farther from him. He rubbed his hands together, "This is gonna be fun!" and said childishly.

* * *

><p>"Are we there yet?" Yusuke asked for the eleventh time that night.<p>

Hiei who was clothed in a dragon costume resisted the urge to bash his friend's face in for the _eleventh _time that night, "Shut up, Urameshi," and just responded in an annoyed voice.

Yusuke shot the shorter male an exasperated stare. "But this is just too far! How long are we going to walk?! We should've used a car or something…" Despite the first few sentences coming out in indignant shouts, the last one came out in a mere mumble.

"And whose car, pray tell, do you think we should've used, Yusuke?" Shuichi (who was by the way, still holding Botan's hand) replied smartly.

Yusuke mentally face-palmed, obviously not needing Shuichi's smart retorts at the moment and just groaned. "Fine, no cars! A taxi!"

"What a great idea! Why don't you just call a taxi? Oh wait, I forgot! There are no taxis passing this way!" Keiko responded sarcastically, pulling an equal sarcastic look on her face.

"Seriously?" Yusuke managed to pull a look that practically meant 'I-don't-need-this-now'. "First Shuichi and now you?"

His girlfriend just sighed and shook her head. Kuwabara (wearing a monkey costume) who had been listening patiently to Yusuke, who just kept complaining, finally snapped. "Will you be quiet, Urameshi? You complaining like a big baby isn't making any of us less tired!"

They had been walking for about an hour, and neither Hiei nor Yukina had said anything about them getting any closer to their destination (not to mention, not a lot of people passed by the road they were at). And Kuwabara was really getting sick of Yusuke rambling and rambling while Yusuke on the other hand, couldn't help himself from rambling because _hell_, where the heck was the damned haunted house?

Yusuke opened his mouth to remark but whatever he was going to say, was immediately cut short by Yukina who had just stopped from playing with her bunny ears.

"You guys, stop fighting. This isn't making any of us feel better either," the small girl reasoned in a soft voice, earning a grumbling Yusuke and a smiling Kuwabara who answered her, "You're right, Yukina-chan!"

"Still," Shizuru started, crossing her arms over her bat costume-clothed chest. "Where are we going, Yukina?"

Yukina turned to look at the taller woman. "We'll get there in fifteen minutes, I think."

"You _think_?" Yusuke almost snapped at her, earning a glare from Keiko, and a hard nudge at the elbow from Botan.

He responded with shooting a glare at Keiko before shooting another one at Botan. "What the hell was that for?"

"Just calm down, don't snap at Yukina like that," Botan replied.

"Almost," Yusuke corrected. "I _almost_ snap at her, Botan. Get your facts straight."

This resulted to Botan rolling her amethyst eyes in irritation. "Why don't you get your head straight?"

Yusuke once again tried to say something but was once again cut off, this time by Shuichi. "Now now, guys. Stop bickering and Yusuke, Botan's right. You have to calm down. We'll be there soon, just be patient."

"Well, Shuichi," the delinquent scoffed, "patience is not in my vocabulary."

Shuichi didn't say anything, and just let out a sigh. Yusuke then turned to look back at Botan and made a face at her, to which she responded by sticking her tongue out at him.

"How did you guys know about this haunted house anyway?" Keiko asked, referring both Hiei and Yukina but she didn't expect any answer from Hiei so she just waited for Yukina to answer.

"Well, a friend of our mother's told us about it. I think we were only eight then, and she was babysitting big brother and I because mother was busy with her work at the office. We got bored of watching the TV then, so she decided to tell us the story about this haunted house. You know, just to cure the boredom for a bit," the sea-green haired girl explained.

"Wow," Shizuru said, lighting up a cigarette for the umpteenth time that night. "What a weird way to cure eight year olds' boredom."

Yukina giggled. "I guess, but it was fun listening to her."

"What's the story about?" Botan asked, trying to sound calm but the underlying fear in her voice was evident. She was never really fond of ghost stories, they scared her. But she was curious, and the curiosity just got the better of her.

As instantly as the question left her lips though, she quickly regretted asking that. Oh, screw her curiosity! She'd rather not know. But she already asked, and she couldn't take that back so she had no choice but to listen even though she badly didn't want to.

Shuichi seemed to notice this, squeezed her hand and when she looked at him, he offered her a smile in comfort. She smiled back and squeezed back his hand, feeling the fear fading away slowly as he ran his thumb soothingly across the palm of her hand.

"It's about a married couple and their daughter, if I'm not mistaken," Hiei was the one who spoke this time and the others looked at him in surprise, clearly not predicting that he would even say anything.

"One night, the parents went to a party, but they left the girl behind. They promised her they'd be back early but they were out late than expected. Then a burglar came and broke into the house through the window. The girl stayed up that night, waiting and waiting for her mother and father to come home. The burglar found her when he was looking through the house and thought she was going to call the police so he killed her," he explained some more, and the others gulped (except Yukina who just played with her bunny ears again).

"The parents went back home and they found her lying dead on her bed but the burglar was nowhere to be found. They called the police, and as soon as the police arrived, they searched the whole house for any clues. But when one of them went into the girl's bedroom, he started to hear giggling. He was freaked out, and ran out of the house yelling there was a ghost."

They were all listening intently now, shivers running up their spine as Hiei continued.

"A month passed by after that, and the parents decided they couldn't live there anymore because they always heard their daughter crying in her room. And well, let's just say that rumors about the house being haunted spread fast and people got interested. In Halloween, most people would come to the house to see if the story was real. 'Visitors' always say that strange things happen at the house."

They would've thought that was the longest Hiei had ever spoken if it hadn't been for the creepy story he told them. What creeped them out the most was the way Hiei told the story; he sounded so calm, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Y-you expect me to believe _that_?!" Although his words sounded as if he didn't believe it, the way Yusuke said it sounded slightly shaky, giving away that he _was_ frightened. "T-there's no way that's true!"

Hiei was unresponsive – he was back to his quiet mode again. And Yukina just smiled at Yusuke. "When we get to the house, we'll know."

"What an interesting story to tell kids when they're bored..." Shizuru commented under her breath.

"Well, at least we know the moral of the story; never leave your kid alone at night...or, at least, hire a babysitter! Ha-ha..." Keiko joked, raised a trembling finger up in the air, trying to ease the tense atmosphere for a bit. It didn't work though.

"You know what; maybe we should go back..." Botan suggested shakily, stopping in her tracks, causing Shuichi to stop, too. He felt her hand trembling against his, and he gave her a concern look. All of them stopped walking to turn around to look at her.

"_What_?! No way, nu-uh! We are _not _going back! We are going to that freaking house no matter how scary it is! I'm not going to waste all my energy and time walking all the way here, to go back to my apartment without even reaching that damned house!" Yusuke retorted, despite the fact he was also scared. Screw fear! He wasn't going to go home in a failure. He was going to that house, no matter what!

"But, Yusuke...!" Botan shouted at him, trying to sound angry but failed miserably as her sentence once again came out shaky.

When the girl started giving protests, Yusuke put both his hands on his ears, yelling out, "no way", or "nu-uh", and the most famous, "I'm not listening to you".

Keiko slapped him on the head. "Yusuke, stop that! It's annoying!"

"I'm not going to listen to her complain how she doesn't want to go to that goddamn house 'cause she's so fricking scared shitless!" Yusuke shot back, pointing a finger at Botan who stopped her complaints to gawk at him.

"What? Hellooo! I'm not the only one scared shitless here, Yusuke!" she cried out indignantly, to which Yusuke just rolled his eyes and snorted.

"Listen, Botan. I'm not really ready to do this either, but I have to agree with Urameshi on this one," Kuwabara said.

"B-but..."

"We've walked this far, we can't just walk back to Yusuke's without even trying to go there. That would be a waste, and plus, we don't even know if the story Hiei told us was true," the carrot-top went on, trying to reassure Botan that everything was going to be okay.

Hiei opened his mouth to say the exact opposite, but was instantly silenced when Kuwabara's hands flew to his mouth, causing his words to come out as nothing but mere muffles.

Botan didn't look convinced so Shuichi did the only thing he could then. "Don't worry, Botan. It'll be alright."

Her eyes averted to gaze at him, and she saw the softness in his eyes and his smile, making her heart race. She tried to slow it down for a bit, trying hard not to blush and managed to pull a smile.

But the moment was soon interrupted by Koenma (who had been quiet the whole time) suddenly said reassuringly, "You don't have anything to be afraid of, Botan-chan. I'll be here to protect you if anything happens," and he winked at her.

Botan gave him a polite smile. It was flattering to hear him say that to her, but she'd rather if Shuichi was the one who said it.

Shuichi's emerald eyes narrowed, the humanity in them fading away and replaced by a dark look that could only be described as jealousy. His smile was now gone, his mouth in a thin line as he tried not to curse at Koenma. He didn't know what he was feeling or why he was feeling this. All he knew was he wanted to strangle Koenma more than anything then, a slight twinge of anger and animosity intruding his heart.

In spite everything he felt though, he kept his calm facade on and just faked a smile at Koenma. "Why, that's nice of you. Then I suppose I'll count on you to take care of Botan then?" Shuichi spoke politely, but the underlying jealousy was evident. _'There's no way I'll let _you _protect her_. I_'ll be the one doing that.'_

The others noticed, but Botan didn't as she was more preoccupied at what he said than the way he said it and Koenma inwardly grinned at the redhead's reaction but outwardly, he just offered a small smile of assurance.

"Of course."

Botan's mind was screaming. Why did Shuichi say that?! Did he not care for her the same way as she cared for him?

That was when she felt his hand, that had never let go of hers the entire time, suddenly let go, and at that right moment, she felt Koenma's hand grabbed her other one.

"What are we standing here for? Let's go," Shuichi announced, sounding as collected as he possibly could (despite the fact his heart was aching).

The others almost jumped (they were too busy watching the scene that had occurred in front of them) at the sound of his voice. Nonetheless, they all nodded vigorously and started walking with Shizuru at the very front and Botan, Shuichi and Koenma at the back.

Shuichi though, started sauntering in front of Botan instead of beside her, and she saw this and called, "Wait, where are you going?"

"Nowhere," he said, without even sparing a glance at her, "Just going to talk to Shizuru for a while."

Botan's brows creased at this. Shizuru? Why Shizuru? Why not her? He could talk to her, right? So why did he have to go to Shizuru? Why? Those questions plagued her mind as she raised the hand that Shuichi had held and stared, her gaze fixated on it.

She wanted to yell at him and cry, but she decided against it. She managed to pull a smile and turned to look at Koenma, pulling her hand out of his hold, glad that Koenma let her. "So I guess it's the two of us now."

She watched from the corner of her eye as Shuichi tapped a hand on Shizuru's shoulder, and gave her a smile, to which Shizuru responded by smiling back.

When Koenma opened his mouth, Botan focused her gaze entirely on him. "Yes, I suppose so. So how did you know these guys anyway?"

"I met Yusuke and Keiko at the park, and we spent a lot of time there together. They ended up taking me to Yusuke's apartment, and that's where I met the others," Botan told him.

Koenma arched an eyebrow quizzically at him. "Were you alone at the park?"

Botan grinned at him. "Not really, Shuichi was there too."

"Oh, so you guys are dating?"

She flushed beet red at his guess, and waved her hands frantically in front of her face. "No, no! It's nothing like that."

When he gave her a confused stare, she went on, "I just… Well, I like him, a lot. I really do. But I don't think he feels the same way…" She looked down to the ground, and smiled weakly at nothing in particular.

"Oh, I see," Koenma said aloud, before mumbling, his voice barely audible, "It doesn't look like the feeling's not mutual though…" referring to the jealous way Shuichi had looked.

Botan didn't hear what he said, but she did hear him mumble something. "What was that?"

He nearly jumped. "Eh? Nothing, I just said it's a pity."

She frowned. That didn't sound like what he said. She was sure that she heard 'though' at the end of his sentence. But she shrugged it off, as she was more busy thinking why Shuichi suddenly decided to leave her behind. Not that she didn't like Koenma, but she'd rather be with Shuichi.

"Yes, a pity."

She decided not to dwell on Shuichi any further, and just diverted her attention to Koenma. "I take it you've known them for a long time now?"

"Uh-huh, it's been years, I guess. I'm really close to all of them, well, except for Shuichi and Hiei. I could never get close to those two," he answered her, sweatdropping at the few last sentences.

Botan blinked. "Oh, is that so? Why?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know but I suspect Shuichi just doesn't trust me much, he's always closed to most people. And Hiei… most of the time, he wants to kill me instead of being friendly with me. He says I'm annoying." _'And I guess Shuichi's going to dislike me more since I'm flirting with his woman.'_

A knowing look passed Botan's face and her mouth formed an "o" shape. The expression soon changed into an apologetic one. "I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm pretty close with Shuichi." At that instant, memories of Shuichi kissing her flashed in her mind, but she instantly shut them out. "I'm not sure with Hiei, though."

Koenma laughed. "No one's ever sure when it comes to him."

She joined him in laughing, and nodded her head in a form of agreement.

In front of her, she caught a glimpse of Shizuru and Shuichi talking to each other and she resisted the urge to scowl.

. . .

"Why aren't you with Botan?" Shizuru asked him, staring at Shuichi with a bewildered look on her features, before glancing behind her back at Botan and Koenma who seemed to be joking around. She frowned at the scene, but then returned her gaze at Shuichi who was now smiling at her.

"No reason, just thought I should come here and talk to you. You look like you don't have anyone to talk to. Yusuke and Keiko are busy flirting, and Kuwabara seems like he's focused on trying to impress Yukina while Hiei's more preoccupied with glaring at Kuwabara. That's why I came; I wanted to accompany you for a bit."

Shizuru snorted. It was an obvious lie. Sure, Shuichi was admittedly good at lying but Shizuru always had this sixth sense where she could tell what's actually going in other's heart. And it wasn't hard to know that Shuichi was lying to her, and not to mention, to himself.

"I don't need any company; you should go back to Botan. She's not talking to anyone either."

The woman caught on his sudden scowl, but as fast as it had appeared, he replaced it with a smile. Although it was brief, Shizuru definitely did see it.

"She's talking to Koenma."

"I should rephrase that," Shizuru said, and Shuichi shot her a befuddled stare. "Botan's not talking to the person she _wants_ to talk to."

He got the hint but he pretended he didn't. "Who is that, I wonder?"

That was it; Shizuru didn't want to take anymore of his lies or pretense, "Stop that, Shuichi. Stop lying, and stop pretending like you don't know what you're doing or the reason you're doing it. You might not realize it, or you may just be denying it, but you know what you feel about her," she blurted out. "Deep down, you do."

Shuichi was taken off guard by Shizuru's words, and he opened his mouth to say something but before he could even utter one word, Yukina's voice announced happily, cutting off whatever it was he was about to say.

"Well, here we are everyone."

Yusuke gulped as he stared at the house. It really looked like the ones you'd see in horror films, vines growing up the walls, creepy mist surrounding it, and it even looked old and deserted! Oh god, please don't let there be zombies or any other mythical, scary things!

"Scared?" Hiei mocked and Yusuke quickly pulled a tough face.

"O-of course not!" he retorted shakily, his legs trembling. Okay, well, maybe he was a bit scared but who wouldn't be?

"So why are your legs shaking, Urameshi?" Hiei went on, his voice teasing and mocking at the same time.

"S-shut up, Hiei! They are _not _shaking out of fear, they're shaking out of excitement! Yeah, yeah, excitement…" Yusuke's voice went from audible to inaudible as he said the last sentence.

He heard a dark chuckle escaped Hiei's lips, and for a moment he wondered what to choose. First option, glare at Hiei and shout back at him, risking getting mocked even worse, or the second choice, ignore Hiei, making him lose interest in teasing him and leave him alone. The second one was more appealing.

So he didn't acknowledge Hiei and just stared straight at the house. As expected, Hiei shut his mouth. But that still didn't make him feel any better.

Some of the others also looked scared; Keiko was hugging herself while Kuwabara was gulping loudly. Hiei remained expressionless, Yukina just smiled, and Shizuru smirked, probably thinking that the house wasn't as scary as she expected. Shuichi studied their surroundings, his eyes lighting up in interest once or twice, and Botan's face was drained of color, while Koenma stared at the house with his mouth slightly agape.

"Wow, this is creepy…" Koenma said to no one in particular. It took him a few seconds to notice Botan who was mumbling how she regretted coming there. He sweatdropped. "Uh, Botan-chan…?"

She jumped, as if she wasn't prepared to hear someone's voice, but it then dawned to hers that it was Koenma's, and she immediately rotated her head to the right to look at him.

"Koenma-kun, I'm scared…"

He frowned. "I-I know, but everything's going to be okay."

"C-can I hold on to you?" she unexpectedly asked. Botan didn't want to hug anyone but Shuichi, but the redhead seemed like he was avoiding her and she certainly didn't want to not have someone to hold on to in this spooky place.

"E-eh?" He almost yelled out. Okay, he was asked to flirt with her for a bit, but that seriously didn't seem like something he wanted to do. Botan was a pretty girl, he'd admit that, but… his eyes glanced at Shuichi for a mere second, and when he saw that Shuichi was now staring at them (he stopped analyzing everything a while ago), the only thing that went through his head was…

'_Shuichi's gonna kill me…'_

He was sure the redhead was thinking of ways to kill him right now.

Contrary to his beliefs though, Shuichi was more thinking of what Shizuru's words meant. He watched as Botan's usually happy features changed into something he didn't want to see. She was scared out of her mind, and that was evident by the tears in her eyes.

At that right moment, Shuichi felt something tugged at his heart, something that felt like he wanted to protect her. He wanted to go there, and tell her that he was there, that he would take care of her. And he did just that.

He strolled to where Botan and Koenma was, and saw that Koenma was apologizing to her about something and Botan's head was now hung low. Shuichi didn't know what, but he didn't care.

"Botan."

The girl lifted her head up to look at him. "S-Shuichi…"

He smiled softly at her. "Idiot, we're not even in the house yet, but you're already crying," he teased, but his voice was gentle as he wiped a tear from her face.

"Not like you aren't freaked out either…" she countered, a small smile forming on her face and slowly, she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest, where she thought she felt safe.

He grinned. "Not really. Hiei's story was a bit frightening but the house doesn't look that bad."

"Doesn't look that bad?" she echoed incredulously, and looked up at him with a frown. "I can't believe you."

He let out a laugh. "I can't believe you either, getting scared over a creepy house."

"Don't push me, Shuichi," and she pinched his arm, earning a wince from Shuichi in return. She giggled when he scowled slightly, and buried her head back in his chest. He blinked at this, before smiling.

"You should stop that; I might've to punish you for being such a bad girl when we get back home," he teasingly added.

"Pervert," she replied, catching on to the dirty meaning in his sentence. But she couldn't help the smile that found its way to her lips. _'I guess he's not avoiding me after all…' _She could stop being jealous now.

For a moment, everything flashed in Shuichi's mind; the kisses they shared, the feelings he felt, how jealous he was of Koenma and Shizuru's words… They struck him as correct.

"_You might not realize it, or you may just be denying it, but you know what you feel about her. Deep down, you do."_

As he held her in his arms, he realized. He loved her. Shuichi now knew he loved Botan. Very much at that. He just couldn't believe it took him long to realize such a simple thing.

"It's okay, I'm here," he said reassuringly and she nodded in response.

Koenma, who had been watching the whole thing, smiled. Neither seemed to notice his smile though. His hazel eyes then caught a glimpse of Shizuru who waved a hand at him, gesturing him to come closer and he took note of his grinning friends and the smirking Hiei. His smile widened, spared a glance at Shuichi and Botan once before walking over to where the others were.

. . .

'_I love you'_, Shuichi thought. But he didn't say it. As much as he wanted to, he didn't.

Now wasn't the perfect time. He wasn't ready yet.

He brought a hand to her hair and entangled his long, rough fingers around the soft, sky blue strands.

When he noticed the others started walking into the house, he tried to follow them and hold Botan at the same time. Though it was rather difficult to accomplish as her grip on his was tight, preventing him from moving any further.

Shuichi laughed. "Botan, as much as I love the feeling of you pressing against me, I can't walk and we'll be left behind if you don't let go."

"Oh, shut up, Shuichi," she shot back, and hit him hard on the chest. He laughed even louder at her actions, to which she responded with a scowl. But she loosened the hug, held onto his hand, squeezing it slightly and letting him pull her along.

Yes, he loved Botan, and he wanted to tell her. And despite the fear he felt that she might reject him, he couldn't care less. He wanted her to know. Needed her to.

He wouldn't be able to confess now, but there would be a moment when he'd tell her how he felt.

That moment wasn't now, but it would arrive.

_Soon, Botan… soon. _


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. It belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi.**

**You're Not So Bad**

**Chapter 12**

Shuichi pulled Botan with him as they entered the creepy house, and he looked around to examine their surroundings. It was a big house, he noted. He could see stairs, but there didn't seem to be any windows anywhere downstairs, and the bottom floor also looked like there was nothing there. And the lights were suspiciously on. He suspected that there were a few windows upstairs but he didn't know that for sure…

As instantly as Shuichi and Botan stepped into the house though, the door was slammed shut behind them, causing all of them to jump. But Botan was the most freaked out then…

"Oh fuck! What the hell!" Yusuke screamed bloody murder and Keiko grabbed his arm, her face contorted in fear.

Yukina and Hiei exchanged glances. Shizuru blinked, and Kuwabara and Koenma shrieked their souls out and hugged each other.

Of course, Botan was acting more scared than the others were.

"W-what was that? Did that door just close? B-but, no one shut it! How could that happen? Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, it's a ghost…" Botan mumbled to herself, her voice getting shakier and her face growing paler at each word that passed her lips.

Shuichi couldn't help the sweatdrop that formed at the back of his head. He didn't seem to be concerned about the door like his friends were. "I'm sure it's nothing, Botan," he told her, trying to calm her down for a bit. He ignored the others who were now whimpering and running around the house. Well, some of them.

Instead of calming down like he hoped her to though, Botan turned even more panicked. "Nothing? How could that be _nothing_, Shuichi?"

"It's just the wind," Shuichi reasoned with her, walking away from the door and dragging her by the hand when she seemed like she couldn't walk – because she seemed too absorb in what had just occurred.

"The wind? B-but…" She was still stubborn to let go of the thought that it might be a supernatural being.

He sighed and shook his head slightly. "It's okay, Botan. We won't be here too long anyway. We'll be out of here soon."

"We might as well get out now." Oh, now she didn't sound scared. She sounded stern. But then again, she did suggest something no one planned on doing…

Yusuke, who had been busy gawking at the door, heard her and immediately disagreed. "What? No! We're not getting out of here, now! We still need to see if Hiei's story is true or not!"

Hiei's voice chimed in. "It's true."

The others sent death glares at his direction and his words just made Botan even more frightened. She was going to get out of that house, no matter what! She wasn't going to wait around and see if a ghost appears or not. No siree!

"Listen, Bo-" Shuichi didn't manage to finish what he was trying to say when she suddenly pulled him along with her as she practically sprinted for the door – despite the fact it wasn't that far away from them.

Botan gripped the doorknob and began turning with her free hand but it wouldn't open. Her amethyst eyes widened in horror at this, and as to be expected, she got even more scared. She let go of Shuichi's hand so she could use both her hand and violently pulled and pushed at the door, but her frantic efforts weren't successful.

Shuichi who had been watching the entire time couldn't help his eyebrows from creasing as his eyes stared at the door. Why wasn't the door opening? It should've been slammed open by now, considering Botan's harsh pushes…

"Guys…" Botan's voice reached his ears and he swiftly diverted his gaze to her. This also gained the others' attentions. "I can't open it…"

"_What_?!" Once again, Koenma and Kuwabara let out an ear-piercing shriek at this. The two of them began running around the house and pulling at their hair, screaming all the while.

Yusuke's eyes almost bugged out of their sockets. "What do you mean you can't open it? Don't bullshit me, Botan!" His own voice sounded frantic. This wasn't going good at all…

Shizuru rolled her eyes and sauntered over to the door. "You just need to give it an extra budge. Like this." She pulled Botan out of the way and pushed on the door while turning the doorknob at the same time, but even as she pushed it harder, it didn't even budge the slightest bit.

Her eyes widened in alarm. "Oh shit…" was the only thing that escaped her mouth.

Botan almost shouted. "See?"

"She's right, Yusuke. This door won't open," Shizuru told the delinquent, turning around to look at the others.

"T-this can't be happening." Keiko clasped a hand over her mouth, her face draining of color.

"I'm not going to be stuck here!" Yusuke cried out indignantly and took a few steps back before running at the door. But again, nothing happened and he only got a spasm of pain surrounding his body in return.

"Damn it!" he cursed.

Seeing that even Yusuke's strength couldn't push the door open, Keiko nearly shrieked in fright and Botan immediately claimed Shuichi's hand in hers again, giving it a squeeze and the redhead quickly caught on what it meant.

He pulled her closer to him and let his free hand cupped her face, turning her head to the left so she would be looking at him. Her eyes were teary, as if she was about to cry and he smiled as she sniffled.

"It will be alright, Botan. Don't be afraid, I'm here," he gave her reassuring words, running his thumb soothingly over her cheek.

"B-but, Shuichi… What if we don't get out of here? What if we're trapped here forever?" She began to voice her fears, looking down to the cold, hard floor. His smile broadened and he shook his head.

"We'll find a way out. Don't worry," he told her. Shuichi didn't like to see Botan shuddering and at the verge of tears because of this. There should be a way of out there, he was sure of that.

She smiled back at him. _'Oh god, Shuichi's so darn charming…and he's so protective too. Kyaa! I could just faint~...Oh wait! This isn't the time to be thinking about that!" _Botan scolded herself mentally and inwardly slapped herself.

When she felt the blush rushing to her cheeks, she quickly looked down to her feet, oblivious of Shuichi who saw this and blinked. What was up with her now? He couldn't help but wonder, but he didn't dwell on it any further as there was something more important he had to deal with now.

Shuichi began to look around the house for any signs of an exit but there was none. There weren't any windows down so the door had to be their only exit… Then again, upstairs could be a different story. _'There might be windows, and if there are, we could get out through them…' _

He cut his thoughts short when he was suddenly aware of Kuwabara and Koenma who had suddenly stopped screaming and running. His brows furrowed and he swiftly turned around to look at his two friends… who were now shuddering in fear on the floor and staring up the wall with looks of apprehension written on their faces.

Shuichi's frown deepened. Something was wrong. "Kuwabara? Koenma? What's wrong?"

The both of them couldn't talk, too frightened to even say a word and just pointed their shaky fingers at the wall.

Shuichi blinked three times at this before letting his gaze followed to where they were pointing at. When he looked up, his eyes turned wide as saucers.

"Uh, guys…?" he called, and everyone turned away from the door – an exception for Botan who lifted her head. "I think you might want to see this."

They caught of a glimpse of Shuichi who was looking up, and they exchanged glances between each other before peering up the wall. There on the wall, in purple paint was a message.

"_It's been so long since anyone has come here. I've been so lonely, but now you're here. Do you like games? I bet you do, so let's play. A treasure hunt sounds perfect, don't you agree? Look for a key. Where? Where is the key? If you can find the key, I'll let you leave. I'll give you a hint; when you find me, you'll find the key. Nobody has ever found me but you can try." _

"…The hell?" Yusuke took a step back, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly agape.

Keiko let out a loud shriek, before clasping her mouth with her hands and staring wide-eyed at the message. "O-oh my god…"

"Shit…" Shizuru cursed under her breath, her cigarette falling out of her lips and she peered at the words written with a look of mixed confusion and fear (only slightly though).

And Botan? Well, the poor girl nearly had a heart attack. "Oh fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. I can't believe this is all happening!"

Hiei scoffed to himself, "What a bunch of wimps," and crossed his arms as he rolled his eyes.

Yukina on the other hand, opposite to her brother's actions, began to try calming down the nearly crying Botan. "Shh, shh… It's okay, it's okay… Take a deep breath."

But instead of heeding her sea-green haired friend's words, Botan began mumbling incoherent sentences that had something to do with being stuck in there forever and the ghost trying to take away their souls.

This resulted to a sweatdropping Yukina, "Botan…" and she just smiled awkwardly to herself as the addressed girl's words grew darker and darker.

"What the hell are we gonna do now?" Yusuke asked no one in particular, glaring at the message on the wall. He had gotten over his shock a while ago.

"Find the key and we can leave. That's what it says," Shuichi replied, his eyes fixated on the message, studying it.

"The problem is genius. We don't know where the fucking key is," Yusuke grumbled, feeling a shiver run up his spine the longer he looked at the wall, and he quickly turned his gaze away.

Shuichi was unresponsive for a moment, still ogling at the words on the wall before he finally broke away to look at the stairs. "I think it's in one of the rooms upstairs. There doesn't seem to be anything here, so it has to be."

Yusuke glanced at the stairs, too. He couldn't help the frown that was now embedded on his forehead. Different than the bottom floor, the top floor didn't see like it had any lights on. He could tell it was dark just from looking at the stairs. There were no lights coming from there, at all.

"Yeah, um… I don't really have a flashlight, and I didn't bring my phone either. So how are we going to go look up there?" he questioned.

"I didn't bring a flashlight with me, too. But I do have my phone." Shuichi gave him the merest glance before sliding his hand in his pocket, fetching for his cellphone before trying to open it, and scowled upon seeing he couldn't open the piece of machinery. "Unfortunately, mine is out of battery." He heard a groan came from Yusuke.

'_Now how am I going to call mother? Well, I suppose one of my friends has a phone or something. I could use theirs to give her a call when we get back, and we could also use their phone as a light,'_ Shuichi thought to himself.

He then turned his attention to his other friends. "Do any of you by chance have a flashlight or a cellphone?" Everyone looked at him and Botan even stopped rambling to herself to give him her full attention.

Shizuru raised a hand. "I have a lighter. We can use that."

Shuichi nodded his head once at the answer. Well, at least they now had one thing they could use for a light. Now, for another one… "Good, then I guess your group can use that."

"My group?" She frowned at his words. What did he mean by that? "Are you splitting us up?"

Once again, she got a nod as a response. "Yes, we have to. That way the chance of us finding the key is faster and better. This house is pretty big; it would take a long time to find it if we don't split up."

"Yeah, also the chance of getting attacked by a ghost," Shizuru added in annoyance. She didn't really like the idea of going in separate groups. Nonetheless, she shrugged her shoulders and nodded her head in agreement. "Fine, I guess I'm in."

Shuichi smiled, clearly pleased by this. "Great, so…any of you have anything else we can use?"

Yukina smiled timidly at him. "Um… Shuichi, I have two flashlights…" she mumbled, her voice low yet gentle.

The redhead smiled back at her. "Right, that's good. Thank you, Yukina, Shizuru." He got a wide smile from Yukina and a mere nod from Shizuru in return.

Botan who had been staring at the scene the whole time couldn't help the grin that spread on her lips. Shuichi just looked so…responsible at that moment. She couldn't help but feel proud. _'Uwahh! Why am I the one feeling proud? It's not like I'm his girlfriend or something! But then again, I wish I am… ARGHH! Stop thinking, Botan!' _Once again, she scolded herself mentally and inwardly hit herself across her face.

"Well then…" Before Shuichi could even utter another word, Yusuke cut him off.

"Boys, you follow me! And girls, you're with Shizuru. You can scream and shriek all you want without dragging us guys down." He snickered at the last sentence.

Botan gawked at him. "What was that, Urameshi?! How dare you! Your buddies were the one shrieking and running around the house like scaredy-cats!" she shot back, and pointed a finger accusingly at Kuwabara and Koenma who were still sitting on the floor.

Koenma's intelligent reply was, "Huh?" and a blink.

Kuwabara, on the other hand, immediately stood straight up and pointed a finger back at Botan. "Says the one who was crying like a big baby! And that term scaredy-cat is more suitable for you!" he shouted, referring to her cat costume.

She fumed at him in return but decided not to say anything else.

"Er, Yusuke," Shuichi spoke, calling for his delinquent friend. Yusuke turned his head to look at him, and Shuichi grinned sheepishly, "If you don't mind me asking, can I be in the same group as Botan?" He had promised her he would be there for her so he didn't want them to get separated. Plus, he'd rather if he know if anything would ever happen to her.

Botan immediately stopped fuming and her lips quirked up into a bright, jovial smile as she nodded her head happily in return, and the others – except Shuichi who blushed and Hiei who remained expressionless – couldn't help themselves from snickering and wriggling their eyebrows at her. Botan's reaction seemed like she was very, very overjoyed by the idea.

It took Botan a few moments before she finally realized what she just did, and her expression immediately changed into one that matched Shuichi's, except even redder.

"I-I just think it's a great idea to have him with us, that's all. I-I mean, he is smart, a-after all… So I think it's s-safer to be with him if anything happens, h-he can come up with a plan to get us out of a sticky situation…" she denied, trying hard to sound normal but failed miserably and cursed herself when she stuttered.

They didn't stop snickering; if anything they looked like they were trying to hold back their laughter. "Uh-huh, sure, Botan…" they all said in unison.

Botan's blush deepened. "A-anyway, let's just go already!" With that said, she grabbed Shuichi's hand, taking him by surprise and began dragging him to the stairs, and as she passed by Yukina, the smaller girl handed her the flashlights and she gladly accepted them.

She handed one to Shuichi, opened the other one and began walking up the stairs, pulling a surprised Shuichi along with her.

Yusuke blinked. "Eh? I didn't even say if I agree or not." He blinked for a few more times before shrugging his shoulders.

"Heh, whatever. So, I guess Shizuru, Keiko, Koenma and Kuwabara can follow me." He suddenly changed his group 'members'. "Hiei and Yukina, you two go with Shuichi and Botan."

Yukina nodded her head while Hiei just started to saunter up the stairs. She saw this, and immediately followed after her brother. The others strolled behind them.

* * *

><p>"We can try climbing out the window?" Hiei suggested. They had been separated for about ten minutes now. Shuichi and his group had gone inside one of the rooms there. Coincidentally, that room was the dead girl's parents' room.<p>

As Shuichi had predicted, there were windows at the top floor. But there weren't many. They had to enter a room to find any windows.

"No luck. The window's sealed, too," Shuichi answered him, trying to open one of the windows in the room, but it wouldn't budge. "I think whoever trapped us here locked every exit, they don't want us to get out of here easily."

A sigh. "It seems we have no choice but to really find the key," Shuichi went on. He was hoping to find a way out if they went upstairs. Unfortunately, there was none.

"Thanks for stating that, Mr. Obvious," Hiei retorted sarcastically, rolling his eyes in irritation.

They had been in the same room for ages (it felt like ages for him anyway) now, going around, looking in the closet and under the bed, or anymore places possible that they could find the key at. He was getting tired of this.

Shuichi couldn't help but also roll his eyes. "Do you think sarcasm helps our current predicament, Hiei?" It was more of a statement than a question, and that made Hiei want to bash his redheaded friend's face in.

Hiei resisted the urge to do so and just shot a death glare at Shuichi, who in return, gave him an innocent smile, intending to piss Hiei off.

Hiei caught on what he was trying to do and growled. "Don't mock me, Minamino."

"I've known you long enough to not be scared of your threats, Hiei," Shuichi responded smartly, nodding his head once when he checked there was nothing else in the room.

"Well, ladies." He turned around to look at Botan and Yukina who were searching through the drawers. They stopped to look at him. "I think there's nothing here. Let's look for it elsewhere."

Yukina's face was now contorted in an expression of concern. "It's getting late, are you sure we're going to find the key before it's morning? I don't like worrying my mother…"

"Yeah, dad and Shiori would be worried sick about us, too, Shuichi, if we don't get out of here," Botan told him, frowning slightly.

Shuichi let out a loud sigh and nodded his head in agreement. "I know, that's why we have to find the key quickly." When he saw the frown deepening on Botan's face, and Yukina looking down to the floor, "Don't worry, we'll be in our homes soon enough," he added and smiled at them.

The girls exchanged glances before looking back at him and nodded their heads, Yukina with a small smile on her face, and Botan with a wide grin appearing on her lips.

Botan pumped a fist into the air. "Well then, on to the next room!" she cheered and Yukina followed her actions, cheering along with her.

"Yosh! Let's go then!" Botan unexpectedly started laughing; this made Yukina giggle while Shuichi just chuckled at the girl's antics.

* * *

><p>"This is so fucking boring," Yusuke grumbled under his breath as he glared at nothing in particular.<p>

Yusuke's group had just finished searching through a work room (Keiko suspected it was where the dead girl's father used to finish his work). They were now walking around to see if they could find another room.

"Yusuke Urameshi! Will you stop that grumbling?" Keiko scolded him, and he rolled his eyes sardonically in return. "Whatever, Keiko."

"This isn't going anywhere," Koenma said, his brows creasing for a bit. "For all we know, we could've missed something. We don't even know which room to look."

"Duh! That's why we're looking through every room in this damned haunted house!" Yusuke retorted.

Koenma resisted the urge to hit Yusuke across the face, and instead, chose to keep his mouth shut.

"Hey, what's that?" Shizuru suddenly spoke, gaining everyone's attentions.

Yusuke, Keiko, Kuwabara and Koenma peered over at Shizuru, and saw that she was snickering and looked like…she was hiding something behind her back. Yusuke, Keiko and Kuwabara immediately noticed this, and backed away from her, already knowing she was planning – or should I say, plotting – something.

Koenma though, didn't realize that Shizuru was up to no good, sauntered closer to her. "What's what?"

He immediately regretted doing that when she answered, "This!" and threw a live rat at him. It hit him right in the face before falling back to the ground.

The brown-haired teen looked down at what Shizuru threw at him. "Eww, that's gross, Shizuru!"

Koenma watched as the rat scurried away into a hole in the wall. He scowled, and shot a glare at the woman who was now laughing her butt off, clutching her stomach with tears of joy evident in her eyes.

About five seconds passed, before Shizuru finally stopped laughing. Her laugh slowly subsided, now replaced by a smirk tugging at her lips. "What? It's not like it was dead," she said as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

Koenma stared at her like she was a mental patient, while Kuwabara, Yusuke and Keiko sweatdropped.

"Anyway," Keiko decided to change the subject, "let's just get this whole thing over with so we can go home."

"Easier said than done," Shizuru countered.

That was when the woman realized something. She pointed her lighter to the right, and saw a wooden door, with the name "Aiko-chan" written on it.

"Hey, guys," she called the others and they looked over to her. She tilted her head to where she was pointing the lighter at. Their gazes followed her hand before finally landing on the door.

"Aiko-chan?" Keiko echoed, her brows furrowing as she read the name repeatedly again and again.

"I guess that's the name of that kid that died here," Yusuke mumbled to himself, his voice barely audible but he knew that his friends heard him loud and clear.

The others nodded their heads slowly.

Silence engulfed them for the longest time before Yusuke finally broke it off, "So, uh, should we go in?" Yusuke asked, hoping for someone to say no. He didn't get a nice feeling from this. He gulped down a lump.

Kuwabara shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, aren't you supposed to be in charge here? You decide."

Yusuke gulped again, and nodded his head once. He grabbed the doorknob, shut his eyes once, flicked them open and slowly turned it, pushing the door open.

Upon seeing what was inside, they couldn't believe everything they went through that night ended up with _this_.

"Oh," was all that left Kuwabara's lips as Yusuke, Keiko and Koenma stared wide-eyed at the sight in front of them and Shizuru closed her lighter.

"Well, this is unexpected."

* * *

><p>"Still, this house isn't at all what I expected it to be." Botan and Yukina had been engaged in a conversation for a long time ever since they had started walking around to look for more rooms.<p>

They had gone into two different rooms already; one with a piano, and the other was the parents' room. Botan had one flashlight with her while Shuichi had the other one.

Yukina giggled, and nodded her head in agreement. "I thought it would be scary with worms all over the floor, curtains shred, and blood trickling down the wall. But, it's not that bad. Sure, there are no lights, but it's pretty clean for a haunted house."

Botan hummed in response, remembering how she, Shuichi, Yukina and Hiei had been trying to look for a light switch earlier but not even one was spotted at the top floor. It was a good idea they had decided to use the flashlight (or in Yusuke's group, Shizuru's lighter).

"You know what, I thought so, too!" Botan's face brightened up all of a sudden. "The difference is my thoughts have zombies and ghosts included, of course," she added sheepishly, and laughed.

Yukina also laughed, joining her. "Yes, I suppose that's what people would think if it comes to haunted houses."

"Who wouldn't?" Botan responded, and the both of them laughed louder.

. . .

Behind them, Hiei and Shuichi had been following after them very closely. Both males said nothing, except for a few glares (in Hiei's part) and smiles (in Shuichi's part) exchanged between them but nothing else.

Shuichi would've said something but he was more absorbed with examining the top floor of the house, occasionally shooting curious glances to the right and to the left every once in a while.

Hiei, on the other hand, had always preferred the silence than endless talking – he immediately noted how friendly Botan looked with Yukina, and the two girls seemed like they were having a real good time talking to each other.

He didn't know why he even said it, but he did. "Your woman is okay, I suppose."

Shuichi looked away from something he had been looking at on the wall to peer over at his spiky-haired friend. "My woman?" he echoed once, before glancing in front of them at Botan.

For a moment, he wondered if she heard what Hiei said, but when he saw that she was too focused with Yukina to pay any attention to anything else, Shuichi continued, "She is far more than just 'okay'."

He waited for Hiei to respond, expected a smart remark but when the other male was unresponsive, Shuichi gazed down to him. "I thought you didn't like her?"

Hiei gave him a glance, but it was for only a fraction of a second as he quickly turned away, and crossed his arms. "I never said that," Hiei snorted.

Shuichi chuckled, and Hiei scowled at this. But then, the scowl immediately vanished into thin air as Shuichi suddenly placed a hand on his shoulder, and stopped in his tracks, pulling Hiei back with him.

This resulted to the both of them getting farther away from Botan and Yukina. Not really too far for them to lose sight of the two girls, but far enough to be unable to listen to each other's conversations.

Hiei blinked in surprise at this, and grew more surprised when Shuichi suddenly told him, "Come on, Hiei. Let's go."

With that said, the redhead started walking, except this time a bit slower than before. Hiei frowned, but followed him nonetheless, using the same speed as Shuichi was.

"You must think I'm acting strange," Shuichi guessed, a smirk lingering at the corner of his mouth. Although he didn't get any answer from Hiei, he knew he hit the jackpot. "I did that so we can speak about this easier. I don't want Botan to listen."

Hiei's confused expression changed into an understanding one, before returning to its usual devoid of emotion look. "I see," was his only reply.

"And?" Shuichi urged all of a sudden, and Hiei couldn't help himself from scoffing.

"If you expect a longer answer, then you won't be getting it anytime soon."

Shuichi arched an amused eyebrow at this, his emerald eyes glinting in amusement in the dark, and he bit his lip to stifle back the chuckle that threatened to come out of his lips. "That's not what I meant, Hiei."

Hiei once again managed to pull a bewildered look. "Huh?"

"When I said that, I was asking you to continue from what you were saying just now."

The air around them was silent for about two seconds before Hiei finally replied with an, "Oh."

He pondered for a moment, trying to remember what he was saying before Shuichi had pulled them away from Yukina and Botan but nothing flashed in his mind. So he just stared blankly at Shuichi's face.

A sweatdrop formed at the back of Shuichi's head. He caught on that Hiei didn't know what he was saying before so he reminded him. "You said you never told me you didn't like Botan."

Hiei's eyes widened in realization for a brief moment, as if he finally remembered that but he quickly replaced the look with his normally expressionless face. "Yes, that. Why would you think that?"

Shuichi shrugged his shoulders, but a light smirk still lingered on his lips. "I just thought that you just don't, especially when she made you kiss Kuwabara in that last game of Truth or Dare we played that night."

Hiei's nose wrinkled in disgust at the memory. "Ugh, repulsing oaf. It's a good thing he and Yukina weren't placed in the same group, or else he would be disgustingly flirting with her by now. Heh, pathetic."

He got a chuckle from Shuichi in response. "I feel sorry for him; Yukina doesn't seem to realize his affections."

The shorter male decided to go back to their earlier topic of discussion, "I admit that girl, Botan, does infuriate me sometimes. She's always talking and cheerful, it annoys me. But, she's not so bad; she gets along well with Yukina."

For a moment, Hiei was quiet before he finally went on, "And also, you seem pretty happy to have her, so I guess that's good, too."

Shuichi made a childish noise that made Hiei wanted to bang his head on the wall. "Aww~! Wis Hiei-chan happy for meee?" He used the most annoying baby-talk tone Hiei had ever heard.

Hiei made a horrified expression. "Don't you dare use that tone on me again!"

Shuichi laughed at Hiei's choice of words. Sometimes, his friend did amuse him. "I'll keep that in mind, Hiei," he joked, and sent a playful wink at Hiei's direction – just to tease him some more.

He laughed even louder when Hiei visibly scowled at this.

After a few more moments of laughing, Shuichi finally stopped and his laughter was replaced by a small smile. "I'm glad you like her, Hiei."

Hiei looked away, and just nodded in return. For a moment, silence enveloped the two males before Shuichi finally broke it off, "I like her."

Hearing this, Hiei glanced up his taller friend, waiting for him to continue. "No, like doesn't even begin to cover it. I… I love her, so much."

Shuichi's features suddenly contorted into an annoyed expression. "I just can't believe I took so long to figure that out. God, you guys were right about my feelings for her."

Hiei snorted in response. "Who told you to not listen to us? Damn egoistic smartass."

A laugh erupted from Shuichi's chest at Hiei's words. Although he would've been fine without the names, he was pretty used by Hiei's sharp tongue by now. After all, he was right. He was an egoistic smartass.

'_Always letting my ego get in the way of everything,' _he couldn't help but muse.

"I take it you haven't told her yet?" Hiei's voice reached his ears, snapping Shuichi out of his thoughts.

"No, not yet," he answered truthfully.

Hiei arched an eyebrow quizzically at him. "Scared that she'll reject you? That hardly sounds like you."

Shuichi smiled. "That's not it, Hiei. I'm just waiting for a right time to tell her how I feel about her."

He heard Hiei let out a laugh. "Waiting for a right time to confess, eh? I thought I would never get to hear the day when you speak those words, Shuichi."

Shuichi also started laughing.

"Boys!" Botan's voice suddenly sounded through the house, and the two friends immediately stopped their laughter.

Shuichi stared straight ahead of him, and saw Botan and Yukina standing in front of a room. He exchanged glances with Hiei before finally strolling over to where the girls were.

Shuichi studied the door, noting the name "Aiko-chan" on it. "I'm guessing this is the girl's room."

Without Shuichi and Botan noticing, Hiei and Yukina stepped back until the twins were standing behind them. Yukina grinned at her brother, and Hiei smirked in return.

"E-eh? I'm not going in there!" Botan protested.

Shuichi heaved out a loud, exasperated sigh.

"Come on, Botan. I know you're scared, but this isn't the time to run away, okay? You want to go home, right? So, let's just finish this. The key might be in…" His eyes widened when he felt a push at his back. "…there!" and he felled, along with Botan (apparently, she was pushed too), automatically opening the door in the process.

Botan sat up, and was about to scream only to blink when instead of a horrifying figure of a ghost, she was greeted by the sight of a chocolate cake, snacks and drinks on a table. But what shocked her most was that Yusuke, Kuwabara, Keiko, Koenma, Shizuru and two other teenagers she didn't really know grinning at her. And not to mention, this room had lights!

'_Eh?' _was the only thing she could think at the moment. What? What was going on here? Was this a prank or something?

When Shuichi sat up, rubbing the back of his head with his eyes closed, and opening them, everything that confused her finally became clearer.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHUICHI!"

'_EHHHHHH?!'_

Botan's jaws dropped. "B-birthday?" She then turned to gawk at Shuichi, who was now blinking at the sight he saw.

It didn't take him long before he finally smiled though. "Thank you, everyone."

Hiei stepped inside the room, followed by Yukina and the two siblings grinned at him. "We thought we should surprise you this year," Yukina told him, a giggle escaping her lips.

"Yeah!" Yusuke agreed. "You're always so busy with studying, every year you'd forget about your own birthday."

Keiko laughed. "But this year, it seems Shuichi's got distracted with something else other than books, isn't that right, guys?" she teased, referring that 'something' to Botan.

Shuichi caught on what she was trying to say, and blood rushed to his cheeks at this.

Their friends began cheering and agreeing with her words. They then grinned toothily at Botan who was still staring at them with her jaws dropped.

When she noticed they were looking at her, Botan immediately closed her mouth. She blinked when the other started laughing and giggling uncontrollably, obviously oblivious of the meaning behind Keiko's words.

She was even more befuddled when Shuichi suddenly started blushing. She opened her mouth to ask him what was wrong, only to cut herself off when he got up from the floor.

Shuichi dusted off his costume before looking down at Botan, his face turning redder when his friends started cheering louder.

He held out his hand and she blinked, stared up at him, and accepted it. He pulled her up from the floor, but even as she stood straight up, neither let go of each other's hands.

"Ne ne, what's wrong, Shuichi? You're red. Why are you blushing?" Botan began questioning him.

Poor guy just blushed. How oblivious could this girl get?

He decided not to answer her. "Jin, Touya. It's nice to see you guys here." Shuichi nodded his head at the other redhead and his blue-haired companion.

Jin grinned. "Well, wouldn't want to miss your birthday." He turned to look at his shorter friend. "Right, Touya?"

Touya's lips quirked up into a smirk. "Right."

Jin then looked at Botan who was staring back and forth and him and Touya. He couldn't help but chuckle at the curious look on her face. "I'm Jin," he started to introduce himself, gaining Botan's attention in return, and pointed a thumb at the blue-haired male beside him, "and he's Touya."

The girl's curious expression was replaced by a bright smile. "Oh, my name is Botan!"

"A pleasure to meet you," Touya replied, nodded his head once at her.

Jin, on the other hand, started whistling a tune as he walked over to where Botan was, walked around her, and studying her for a few moments. Botan blinked in confusion at this but as instantly as she opened her mouth to ask him what he was trying to do, Jin stepped away from her and peered at Shuichi.

"Ehh… So this is Shuichi's girlfriend. A cutie, if I might say so myself!" He gave Shuichi a grin. "I'm so jealous, man!"

Botan and Shuichi flushed beet red at Jin's words. "No, no, you've got it all wrong!" Both of them chorusedly denied.

"Aww! You don't have to deny it, you know. Don't hide, we all know already." Jin was now laughing.

Shuichi sweatdropped, the blush currently gone from his face but there was still a faint color of pink tinting his cheeks. "I don't know who misinformed you, Jin. But Botan and I aren't dating." _'As much as I want us to,' _he mischievously added in his thoughts.

Jin didn't believe a word he said and only laughed louder. Touya just shook his head disapprovingly at his best friend's antics.

"Sorry about that," Touya started, "Don't try to convince him. You'll get a headache."

Shuichi chuckled and nodded his head. "Okay, I won't then."

"So, Touya," This time Botan spoke, "Uh, what's all this actually?" she questioned.

Touya grinned at her. "Oh, this? Hiei and Yukina planned this surprise party for Shuichi's birthday. So they made up the whole ghost story about this house being haunted and stuff like that."

"So did you guys know about this?" Shuichi asked, now looking at Keiko, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Koenma and Shizuru. They shook their heads.

Yusuke waved a hand in front of his face. "Nah, we only knew when we entered this room."

"I asked Jin and Touya to take care of the preparations for the party. And just in case Yusuke and the others would come in here, they could tell them what's going on," Yukina explained even further.

Shuichi couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips. "I can't believe you guys would go this far for me."

Botan pouted. "So we were all scared to death because of a made up horror story?!" she blurted out angrily. But she wasn't too angry, of course.

Yukina giggled before giving her an apologetic smile. "Sorry, we didn't know you would be that frightened."

Hiei smirked. "Scaredy-cat," he insulted Botan who in return shot him a death glare.

"Don't push me, Hiei," she said warningly, and the short male let out a wicked laugh, as if mocking her. This made Botan want to punch him in the gut but she resisted the urge to do so, and just scowled.

She stopped glowering down at Hiei and diverted her attention to Yukina. "What about this creepy house then?"

"This house belongs to our uncle. He doesn't like the light much, so he never bothered to put on light switches at the top floor. Except for this room, of course," Yukina answered her. "He's out of town for work, so we took this chance to use his house."

"And what about that name Aiko-chan on the door?" Botan asked again.

"Jin and Touya wrote that, and everything that creeped you guys out in this house is all their doing," Yukina told her, and giggled when Touya grinned and Jin laughed even louder than before – if that was even possible.

Botan smiled. "I don't know if I should be piss off that you guys tricked me into getting scared shitless or be glad that the freaky story Hiei told us wasn't true."

All of them laughed at her words.

* * *

><p>Botan stood at the balcony and watched her friends as they goofed around and gave presents to Shuichi. Everything…just changed so much since she met him.<p>

She's got new friends now, and she also experienced being in love with someone. Her dad was also happy with Shiori.

She couldn't help but smile as she thought of the things that had happened before. The times Shuichi had frustrated her, the times they fought each other, the times she thought of how much she despised him. Who would've thought that hate could turn into something much more?

As she spent more time with Shuichi, she learned a lot of things about him. Sure, he was a pervert sometimes, and he could also become too stubborn for his own good. Sure, he was frustrating and sarcastic. But he was also protective over her, he was kind to her, he was gentle…he was himself. And everything about him made him endearing to her, even his weak points.

And if she hadn't met Shuichi, she wouldn't have met such good friends. Wouldn't have this much fun. Wouldn't love her life as much as she did now.

Her smile widened slightly as her eyes spotted Shuichi who was laughing at something Yusuke said. _'I guess when I got to know you better, you're not so bad, Shuichi.'_

She let out a contented sigh and turned around to look at the dark sky, staring at the shining stars.

"_When I'm gone I'll always be watching over you as a star, Botan. Remember that," _Her mom would always tell her that and she still remembered her exact words to this day.

Botan laughed to herself. _'I guess you are watching over me, huh, mom?' _A small smile made its way to her lips as she continued to watch the stars.

. . .

"Oppa Gangnam Style!" As soon as the song started, Yusuke started dancing as PSY did in his dance video. Well, at least tried to, anyway… and was failing miserably at it. And he even started to strip off his shirt, and pants; now only his boxers remained… because he was too absorbed in his dancing.

The others were all laughing uncontrollably at this while Hiei had his head in his hands, shaking his head.

"Oi, Urameshi! Stop, you're making the song look bad!" Kuwabara blurted out between laughs.

"Y-yeah, Yusuke! Please, stop!" Keiko felled out of the chair she was sitting on.

"Oh my god, my stomach hurts!" Koenma had tears in his eyes (well, all of them did, actually) and was now slapping a hand on the table uncontrollably.

Shuichi shook his head, his laughter subsiding (FINALLY!) and he turned to look at Hiei, who was hilariously murmuring, "My eyes… my eyes… my eyes…."

He chuckled to himself. He didn't know which one was funnier, Yusuke dancing horribly to the song Oppa Gangnam Style or Hiei traumatized by what he saw.

He stopped chuckling as soon as his eyes landed on the balcony though. He caught the sight of Botan, alone and staring up into the sky, with a small smile on her face.

He noticed she had been there for a pretty long time now. Sure, she ate some of the chocolate cake Yukina made, and even had her own share of funny, dumb moments in the party. But, somehow, she decided to stay at the balcony (after singing Avril Lavigne's 'Girlfriend' and pulling stunts the whole time she had sung).

Shuichi smiled as he politely rejected another offer of a piece of cake from Yukina. "No thanks, Yukina. It's delicious, but I don't think I can eat anymore."

The small girl smiled at him and nodded her head as a response. "Okay," she replied before turning her attention back to Yusuke and laughing again.

Shuichi then decided to go over to talk to her. He walked over to the balcony, and upon reaching it, he tapped a hand on Botan's shoulder.

She almost jumped, as if she didn't expect company, but she turned around nonetheless. The surprised look on her features was soon replaced by a cheerful expression as she saw Shuichi.

"Oh, hey!" she greeted gleefully. "What are you doing here? Your party's in there," she joked and winked at him. Of course, she knew why he was there. She just knew him too well.

Shuichi laughed. "Just want to talk to you."

Botan giggled in return, and he silently noted to himself how wonderful the sound was. "Are you sure you didn't come here to sexually harass me?"

He arched an eyebrow at her, piercing emerald eyes glinting in mischief at her choice of words. "Why? Do you want me to?"

Botan's giggling immediately halted and blood rushed to her cheeks as she stared at the redhead who was now leering at her. Her eyes caught his for a moment, and she quickly broke the eye contact off before he could even manage to stop her from doing so.

She turned, her back now facing him, and waited for the heat in her face to go away. But of course, it wouldn't, especially not when Shuichi was now wrapping his arms around her waist, and hugging her from behind.

"Shu-Shuichi?!" she almost whimpered.

He didn't respond instead he gave her ear a soft lick. Botan's blush deepened at this, and she immediately turned around to push him away. Not now, damn pervert! She was always against physical contact in front of their friends.

She didn't manage to get him off of her as he only tightened his grip on her. He gave her wolfish grin and before she could utter a word, Shuichi pressed a featherlike kiss on her lips, going for a second and a third. He opened his own mouth and poked out his tongue, brushing it against Botan's bottom lip.

Hmm… _his_ Botan's breath was warm and smelled sweet. Had she eaten candy? If he wasn't mistaken, Jin had brought a bag of candies…

Shuichi felt hands get tugging at his hakama, and pulling him deeper into the kiss.

But before it could've escalated into something more passionate, Botan suddenly broke it off and Shuichi didn't bother to hold back the feral growl that erupted from his throat at this.

She felt a shiver run up her spine at the sound but she resisted nonetheless. "S-Shuichi, not now…"

For a moment, she could've sworn she saw something in those piercing emerald eyes of his, she felt a hand grabbed at her arm and before she knew it, she was lying on the balcony floor with Shuichi on top of her, trapping her.

When he leaned closer, Botan snapped her head to the right, and instead of her lips, he got her cheek. He let out a desperate whisper of her name, desperate to kiss those lips again…

"D-didn't you hear what I said? Not now! What if the others…" she decided to trail off, already knowing he got her point even she didn't finish what she was trying to say.

Shuichi maneuvered his lips to her neck, smirking against the skin at the soft gasp elicited from her. "They're too busy with Yusuke to care, neko-chan…"

She opened her mouth to protest and he took this as an advantage, slipping his tongue past her lips, brushing their tongues together and preventing any noise to come out, except for her delicious moans. Teeth bumped, tongues battled for dominance, and lips were bitten.

Botan wrapped her legs around Shuichi's waist, and pulling him closer. She was trembling, trying not to lose her grasp on reality as her mouth was completely dominated by his. They pulled away for a moment to catch their breaths. But it was only brief, and Shuichi locked their mouths together once more.

Her arms found their way to his neck, and wrapped around it, trying to press him to her as close as possible. Shuichi loved the fact Botan would swoon if he touched her in the right places. He let one of his hands trail up her thigh, his fingers pressing and applying pressure. He relished in the cute mewls and moans moans escaping her sweet lips.

"Mine…" Shuichi possessively growled against her mouth. She was his; he wanted her to be his. For a moment, he pondered if she loved him back. But if she didn't, she wouldn't be doing this with him, right? He needed her to know how he felt for her; he needed to know how she felt. _Now_.

Botan, on the other hand, wondered what he meant when he said that. Did he, if possible, have feelings for her? Or did that just slip from his lips because he was too caught in the heat of the moment.

Shuichi broke the kiss, and for a moment Botan couldn't help herself from thinking if she really did see it, or if her eyes were playing tricks on her. But there he was, staring lovingly at her. His mouth opened slightly…

She felt her heart skipped a beat, and she waited for him to continue–

"Hey, what are you guys doing?"

–But he didn't manage to because Jin and Yusuke had apparently interrupted him.

The both of them immediately broke apart, Shuichi got off of Botan, and the girl stood straight up, a dark red color on their faces – though Botan was darker.

Yusuke and Jin exchanged curious glances before a knowing look passed their faces. Snickering, the two wriggled their eyebrows at Shuichi and Botan.

"Shuichi and Botan kissing on a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Jin and Yusuke sang, but soon found themselves running for their lives when Botan yelled out, "I'll kill you!" and started chasing after them.

The others laughed as the two ran around the room with an angry Botan threatening to hurt them, 'hunting' them.

Shuichi smiled at this, and shook his head. He watched as his love interest and his two friends played a game of cat-and-mouse in the room. But then the smile felled. And a loud, exasperated sigh was let out.

_Talk about wrong timing. _


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. It belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi.**

**You're Not So Bad**

**Chapter 13**

"God, I laughed so hard when Yusuke had cake all over his face!" Botan broke into a howl of laughter as soon as she said that, clutching her stomach in her arms with tears of joy in her eyes.

Shuichi was laughing too. "If you think that's funny, remember when Kuwabara sang Pink's So What? Oh god, his voice..." He was now laughing even louder than before.

The two of them laughed their hearts out some more before they finally stopped and Botan spoke. "Great party, sorry I didn't get any presents for you though," she said apologetically but then paused and grinned at herself. "Well, not that I knew, right?"

He nodded his head and smiled as his eyes stared straight ahead at the road. They were on their way home now. Shuichi didn't know what time it was but his guess was that it was probably around midnight or past midnight. "Exactly. You didn't know so you don't have to say you're sorry."

Botan suddenly started giggling and Shuichi turned his head to look at her only to get a playful tap on his nose from her. "You should've told me sooner," she chortled.

He blinked at this before peering over at Botan and saw her eyes glimmered under the moonlight, cheeks flushed in a pink hue and a warm smile lingered at the corner of her mouth. She looked…beautiful. Shuichi almost lost his breath and he had to remind himself how to breathe properly. He immediately looked away so he didn't have to feel so awestruck.

"I'm sorry, I just forgot," Shuichi responded jokingly, trying to calm down his racing heart and failing miserably at it. He heard a laugh erupt from her lips and it didn't help that his heart only started beating faster at the sound.

"How could anyone forget their own birthday? I can't believe you, Shuichi." Botan shook her head at him.

Shuichi gulped down a lump. For a moment, he didn't know what to say then. He was too absorbed in his own thoughts of her. "Uh, right…" he mumbled absent-mindedly.

Botan noticed this and a frown crept up to her face. Was she boring him or something? The thought bothered her so she grabbed at Shuichi's fox ears and tugged at them, finally gaining his attention in return. "Hey, you're spacing off when I'm talking to you. That's rude," and she pouted.

The redhead was nearly taken aback by the touch. He was practically _head over heels _for this girl and he didn't deny it. He knew it and accepted it. Still, he wasn't used to feeling butterflies in his stomach and his heart skipping a beat at everything she did. Her actions were simply little, they wouldn't mean much to anyone else. But it meant a lot to him.

He finally found his voice after staring at her for about ten seconds – with Botan staring back at him with a confused expression. "You know what's even ruder than that?" Shuichi suddenly inquired, arching one red eyebrow at her. Oh and there was that look on his face again…

She stared at him suspiciously. Nonetheless, she asked him, except with a slight hesitation hinted in her voice, "What?"

Shuichi leaned closer to her face and Botan soon found herself blushing at this. What was he up to now? She couldn't help herself from musing. She expected him to kiss her right then and there but instead he placed his lips near her ear. His voice teasing and seductive at the same time, "If I'm spacing off when I'm making love to you," and she could just feel his smirk on her skin.

Her face turned redder – whether it was out of embarrassment or anger, Botan wasn't sure but it could be both. Why that little-! Did he have to always be such a pervert? She pushed him away and scowled when he let out a chuckle, obviously amused by her actions. "Goddammit, Shuichi! Can't you spend a day without making comments like…like _that_?!"

If there were people here, they would've been giving her weird looks by now. But there weren't so she felt she was allowed to shout or scream as loud as she wanted to.

Her annoyance mounted when the only thing Shuichi did in response to her loud yell was a playful smirk and stared at her with a pair of piercing mischievous emerald eyes. "Like what, honey?" he asked, despite knowing what she was talking about.

Botan shot him a glare. "You know what I mean, Shuichi. Don't make me say it!" As soon as she roared that out, she started to stomp away. Literally. Shuichi blinked at her figure but it didn't take long for him to smirk again.

He fast-walked so he could catch up to her and when he was close enough to be able to touch her, he reached a hand out to claim her wrist in his hold. He did and spun Botan around, noting how cute the red shade on her face was. "Making comments like what, Botan?"

Botan seriously didn't get why she had to say it. It wasn't necessary, now was it? He knew what she meant so she didn't have to say it. And besides, didn't he know how flustered he was making her feel? A part of her wanted to punch him or kick him, _anything _to hurt him so he could stop being the reason why she was blushing so hard. But then there was a part of her that wanted to catch his lips and tell him how she felt. The first part was dominant though.

She hit him hard in the chest and Shuichi let go of her with a wolfish grin. He was used to getting hit by her but he knew not to push her further. But that still didn't stop him from saying, "I want to hear you say it." Damn pervert. How she just wanted to wipe that stupid leer from his annoying face…

Botan continued in her tracks, her eyes entirely focused on the road and trying not to look back at Shuichi. Damn pervert for being so oblivious of her feelings. "I told you, I don't want to say it!" she exclaimed.

"Why not? Not like it would hurt you anyway, neko-chan," Shuichi teased her as he followed closely behind her, his eyes fixated on her swaying hair. He inwardly smiled as he added in his thoughts, _'As beautiful as the blue sky…'_

She was about to turn her head around to glare at him but decided against it at the last minute when she remembered she was still trying to not look at him and returned her gaze to the road. "Stop calling me neko-chan, you damn fox!"

"Fox?" She heard him chuckle. "Last time I checked, I was human."

"I think it suits you. After all, you are wearing a fox costume now," Botan countered and then, "if you haven't noticed," she added. She didn't take her eyes off the road, intending to fight the desire to look at his stupidly and annoyingly face – too bad for her because it was hard to resist the urge to.

Shuichi stared at the girl in front of him. He noticed that she didn't even spare him a mere glance the whole time they talked to each other. Not at all. Not the slightest. Nothing. Nada. He wanted her to look at him, to stare at him with those vibrant amethyst eyes of hers.

"Ha-ha, okay, okay. I'm a fox. Whatever you say, Botan," With that said, he let a loud, wholehearted laugh escaped his lips, trying everything he could in his mind to stop himself from turning her around, capturing her eyes and kissing those soft, full lips he always loved.

Botan didn't know what to say so she just kept her mouth shut. When she was unresponsive, Shuichi grew slightly uneasy and decided to change the subject. "It was nice of Yukina to give these costumes to us," he started, remembering the small girl who had generously given the animal costumes to their friends as present. Always the sweet one, wasn't she?

He heard Botan giggle and he couldn't help the smile that spread on his lips at the ear-pleasing noise. Good, she was giggling. Now, if he could just find a way to make her look at him… "Yeah, it was and we couldn't really tell her 'no', could we? She made these herself after all, and plus, she's too kind for me to resist!" Botan started rambling and he saw her skip in her steps but still, she didn't give him one look.

She was trying her hardest not to look at him. Because she knew if she did, she'd drown in those pools of magnetizing emerald. Because she knew she would just melt under his gaze. Because she knew he would devour her lips and that would leave her breathless. She was already too into him, she didn't want to get hurt if she found out he didn't feel the same way. For once, Botan wanted to feel as if Shuichi had no effect of her. None at all. Nothing. Zero.

Shuichi on the other hand, wanted nothing but for her to look at him, needed nothing but to stare at the pretty face he had grown to adore. But she wouldn't. "If you think Yukina's sweetness it hard to resist, then for me, I think it's your lips that I can't resist."

He watched her as she almost jumped at his words. A bit surprised she seemed, Shuichi couldn't help but muse. But she quickly covered her shock with an indignant cry. "Why can't you keep your thoughts to yourself? You're such a perv!" Darn it, Shuichi. You're making her flustered again. Just when she thought she could stop being that way for at least a whole night.

And Shuichi just couldn't stand it anymore. He started to walk faster and held out his arm slowly. Before Botan could comprehend what was happening, she found herself enveloped in an embrace by Shuichi, his eyes locking into hers.

She tried to look away but couldn't. His gaze was mesmerizing, as if he was staring deep into her soul. A familiar smirk tugged at his lips and he let out a low whisper only both of them could hear, "But even if I am, you don't hate me, right?"

_I don't._

And as his lips met hers in a passionate, mind-blowing kiss, Botan couldn't help but melt in his arms.

So much for trying not to look at him…

* * *

><p>"So, do you think Shuichi and Botan are going to be alright?" Yukina inquired, tilting her head at Keiko who just shrugged in return.<p>

"I don't know. I think they're okay, but I don't know if either one has confessed yet," Keiko replied sadly and shook her head. Shuichi's and Botan's relationship was strange but they loved each other and that was what mattered. But the real problem was that neither was willing to admit it to the one person they harbored feelings for.

Shizuru let out a loud sigh. "God, it's obvious to us that they like each other. But it's so frustrating when they don't know that."

"Wait," Kuwabara's voice chimed in and everyone looked at him, "How would we know if Urameshi's plan worked anyway? What if Shuichi still doesn't realize that he loves Botan?"

Shizuru rolled her eyes at the thought. "Then he's a dumbass."

Yusuke turned to Koenma. "Are you sure you did your part well?" he asked his brown-haired boy and his head laid lazily on the table.

It was Koenma's turn to roll his eyes. "I'm damn sure about it, Yusuke. I'm confident in my abilities to succeed, thank you very much." Oh, there he goes again. With his perfectionist attitude.

"We don't even know if he knows that he's fucking into Botan now," Yusuke said before mumbling grudgingly, "God, I hate not knowing what's going on with my friends."

"You don't have to worry," Hiei suddenly spoke. He was reassuring them but he still kept his usual cold tone.

Kuwabara's brows creased at him. Not that Hiei wasn't allowed to be reassuring but the way he said it sounded so confident. "How can you be sure of that?"

Yusuke slapped away Jin's sleeping face which was getting too close to his for his comfort. "Yeah, care to justify that question with an answer, Mr. Shorty Pants?" he asked sardonically, his eyes rolling in an equal sardonic manner.

Hiei ignored the look on Yusuke's face and continued. "Shuichi told me that he has feelings for her. But he also told me he hasn't told her yet."

"Eh?!" Kuwabara exclaimed in surprise, taking Touya who was sitting beside him by surprise and causing the latter to flinch at the noise. "Why did he tell you but didn't tell us?"

Hiei shot him a smirk. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe because you weren't in the same group as us before?" he replied sarcastically.

To Kuwabara's annoyance, Hiei added a wicked chuckle at the end – just to piss the carrot top even more. He ignored his mounting irritation and just asked – though with a hint of suppressed anger in his voice. "That's great, I was scared that he was still unaware of that."

The shorter male scoffed. "If you think Shuichi's that stupid, then you're just underestimating him. He might not know about his feelings at first, but that's because he's never liked a girl before. It wouldn't take him too long to notice them, you clown."

Instead of the normally pissed off face Kuwabara would always make everytime Hiei called his names, he got a teasing grin in return. "Getting a little protective over your best friend, eh, Hiei?"

Fortunately for him, Hiei didn't do anything to hurt him and just cast him a death glare.

* * *

><p>Shuichi closed the door behind him, looking around the dark living room before averting his gaze to Botan who was now in the kitchen and searching the fridge for a drink. He walked somewhere around the room and switched the lights on.<p>

His eyes traveled back to the couch and he was vaguely aware of two heads peaking out of there. Shuichi walked over to get a better look and when he did, he caught a sight of Shiori and Yukio sleeping with the former's head on the latter's left shoulder. He silently wondered if they had been waiting for him and Botan this whole time.

Shuichi's hand reached out and he tugged at Yukio's other shoulder. It took him a few more tugs before the man finally woke up, his eyes flicking open. He watched as Yukio blinked twice, probably adjusting his eyes to the dark before lifting his head up to look at Shuichi.

When he saw the redhead smiling and standing in front of him, Yukio almost yelled out but he stifled it when he was struck by a realization that Shiori was sleeping beside him, obviously not wanting to wake his lover up.

He looked back to the woman to see if she was awake, and upon seeing that she thankfully wasn't, he heave out a sigh of relief. Yukio returned to look at Shuichi who was now biting his lip and trying hard to hold back a chuckle. The older man shook his head in response.

"When did you get back?"

"Just now. I saw you two sleeping, that's why I woke you up. Sorry about that," Shuichi started and then peered over his mother, "You might want to take her to your room now. It's better to sleep there than the couch."

Yukio nodded in agreement. He yawned and made a move to carry Shiori to their room but stopped himself when a tinge of pain intruded his neck. He massaged it slightly and narrowed his dark purple eyes in irritation. "You're right, the couch's too uncomfortable. My neck hurts like hell now."

Shuichi smiled at him; he would've laughed but he was afraid that would wake his beloved mother up. Watching as Yukio slid a hand under Shiori's thighs and another one at her back, Shuichi couldn't help but make a silent note how good those two looked with each other. Yukio was very loving to her, and he proved that not only in their public displays of affection but also by the gentle way he'd always look at her. Like now. Those pools of dark purple eyes were staring at Shiori with so much intensity and love, Shuichi found himself awed.

It was obvious Yukio loved Shiori very much and Shuichi had no doubt the man would do anything for his mother. _Love was such a simple thing, yet it meant the world to most people_. He was happy Shiori had a very nice, caring man like Yukio as a lover. But now he couldn't help his mind from conjuring up images of him and Botan being together.

Sure, if they were to be girlfriend and boyfriend, they would never display their affections in front of others like their parents did. Shuichi saying something perverted and Botan yelling at him for doing so was what came into his imagination.

Every couple was different, just like Shiori and Yukio or Keiko and Yusuke. The adults acted as if they were a married couple, the similarities so striking that Shuichi sometimes forget that they weren't even engaged yet. And his two friends, despite their constant bickering, would always understand each other like others never could and they would always seem like a combination of close friends and lovers. Keiko was able to be Yusuke's best friend and his girlfriend at the same time, and Shuichi could tell Yusuke loved her for it.

But what if he and Botan were together? What if they were dating? What would it be like? He wanted to know, really-

Shuichi's thoughts were cut off by Yukio. "Hey, are you alright, Shuichi? You're looking a bit off."

Yukio earned a small smile in return. "No, it's nothing, Yukio-san. Just thinking of some books I want to buy at the book store. But it seems too late to go," Shuichi lied and he glanced at the clock to make the lie seemed even more believable. When he did though, he couldn't help but think to himself.

'_It's 1:25 in the morning and I'm not even sleepy yet.'_

To his utter relief, Yukio shrugged his shoulders and decided not to ask anything else. "Okay then, I guess I'll see you tomorrow morning."

Shuichi nodded his head, his smile widening slightly and he stared as Yukio started to saunter over to his and Shiori's shared room. Not forgetting to kick Botan slightly on the leg to draw her attention.

Botan turned her head and was about to shout at the 'perpetrator' – whom she thought was Shuichi – only to stop herself when instead of being greeted by the sight the redhead, she saw Yukio who had a grin on his face. His eyes were a bit drowsy though.

She almost yelped out in surprise – because she hadn't notice he was even there (she thought he was in their room with Shiori) – but held it back when she saw Yukio shot a glare at her and tilted his head at the sleeping Shiori, indicating that if Botan even dared to wake her up, he was going to make her pay for it.

She gave him an awkward smile. "Hi, dad. I didn't know you were here, I thought you were sleeping," she said nervously. Yukio made a face at her. "Yeah, I can see that," he responded, "and I _was_ asleep… until your boyfriend woke me up."

Botan glared at his back as he started to walk away. "How many times do I need to tell you? He's not my boyfriend," she replied grudgingly. Not because she hated being called Shuichi's girlfriend but because she knew it was true. Shuichi wasn't her boyfriend. That was the ugly truth. _'As much as I wish he is.'_

"You should stop lying or I'll spank you," Yukio joked. Wow, best dad in the whole wide world.

Botan made a disgusted face at him. How long was he going to treat her like a little child? "I'm not five anymore, dad."

He turned around to stick his tongue out for her. And he treated _her _like a kid; he was pretty much a kid himself. Botan rolled her eyes in annoyance at the display. "You know what, dad? Why don't you do me a favor of getting inside your room and go to sleep so you won't disturb me anymore?" Botan told him sarcastically.

He ignored the sarcasm dripping in her voice and grinned like a Cheshire cat. "Sure, my pleasure." He opened the door to his and Shiori's bedroom, but not forgetting to give his daughter one last tease before he went to sleep. "Oh yeah, one more thing, if you two kids are going to do 'something' else tonight, don't forget to wear protection," he playfully said, wriggling his eyebrows at her.

Botan gasped in horror, but his Cheshire-like grin widened. "Oh my god, dad… You're such a pervert!" she blurted out, trying hard not to yell and keep her voice volume low so she wouldn't wake Shiori up.

She glanced back at Shuichi for a moment and was thankful when she saw that he was busy looking for something. Botan pondered what exactly he was looking for but at that moment, she was more relieved that he didn't hear what Yukio said. She didn't know what he'd do if he did.

Yukio didn't say anything and just continued to grin at her. "Well, see you in the morning, honey," he said with mocking sweetness that made Botan want to punch him in the face. With those last words, he went inside and closed the door and didn't manage to see the glare she shot at his direction.

Botan glowered at the door for a few more seconds before huffing and deciding that she wasn't going to stand there, looking at the door all night long. The girl turned around to see Shuichi looking under the couch and in a crawling position. She frowned and before she could stop it from escaping, a question came out of her lips, "What are you doing?"

He peered up at her, went back to look under the couch and when he found nothing, he stood straight up with a scratch at the back of his head. "I can't find the remote…"

"Are you kidding me? You're not going to sleep?" Botan asked him incredulously and Shuichi gave her a grin. "I'm not really sleepy," he replied and then his brows furrowed. "Why? Do you want to sleep?"

Botan immediately shook her head in response, waving her hands frantically in front of her. She didn't like the frown on his face; it made her feel bad as if she did something wrong. "No, no, that's not it! I just thought you want to sleep at a time like this! I mean, you always wake up so early after all…" She dropped her arms at the last sentence, mumbling instead of blurting it out loudly like the first few sentences.

He smiled at her, his frown vanishing into thin air (_"Thank God," _Botan thought). "Oh, then if you're not feeling sleepy, can you accompany me for tonight? I don't want to be by myself, it's boring," he asked, though Botan slightly noted it sounded more as a command then an invitation.

Nevertheless, she nodded, "Sure," and a smile tugged at her lips.

Shuichi's smile broadened at that one word and then he started to look around again. Unfortunately, he couldn't spot the remote anywhere. A heavy sigh erupted from his lips. "Now if we could just find the damn remote…"

Botan flopped down to the couch. "Who needs the remote when we can do something else?" she proposed, meaning to say they could do other things like listening to songs or talk to each other than watch the television. It was a simple, and innocent suggestion.

Shuichi though, twisted it the other way. His eyes glimmered in mischief, an all too familiar smirk creeping its way up his lips, his voice low and husky and seductive as hell as he cast his eyes on her. "Yes, I have something in mind that we can do to pass the time…"

"Oh, great then!" Botan perked up, clearly not noticing the tone in his voice and thinking he meant something normal. She wasn't looking at him at first but when she turned to give him her usual joyous smile, she saw _that_ look on his face again. She quickly caught on what his earlier words _actually_ meant.

When he suddenly began to saunter over to where she was, Botan backed away on the couch. But seeing as the couch wasn't that big, she only managed to get away from him a little which was not as much as she hoped.

Uh-oh.

All of a sudden, she felt as if she was a little kitten with a sly fox preying on her. God, why was she surrounded by perverts?

* * *

><p>"Why can't we go home now?" Keiko asked angrily, her head on the table and her brown eyes glaring at a certain part on the wooden material. "Not like we have anything to do here."<p>

Yusuke groaned. "Keiko," he started dryly, "Do you want to go out now at who knows what time already but I'm sure it's late, just because you wanna go home?" he tested.

His girlfriend pouted at him. "I know, but… this house is still a bit creepy. I mean, I know there's no ghost or something like that but… you get what I mean," she replied.

A laugh erupted from Yusuke's throat. "Relax, Keiko. I'm here. Just go to sleep already. Everyone else is sleeping." He turned to look at his friends who were sleeping on futons. After the talk about Shuichi and Botan, all of them had agreed to call it a night and had went to sleep. "We should sleep, too. Plus, I'm tired."

Keiko sighed. She didn't want to stay there. The house freaked her out a bit, especially when there were practically no lights except for this room and downstairs. But then, she didn't want to tire her boyfriend out either. "You go to sleep, Yusuke. I'm going to stay up for a while longer."

Yusuke arched an eyebrow at this. He didn't want to sleep before she did. An idea immediately came to him and he then grinned toothily and before Keiko knew it, she found two hands on her waist and pulling her down. Keiko and Yusuke both felled on the futon with the brunette on top of him. She tried to get up but he kept her still by keeping a gentle yet firm grip around her waist.

"Come on, let's sleep. We're already lying on this fucking futon anyways."

She broke into a fit of giggles. Her boyfriend could be so sweet sometimes. "Sure, Mr. Delinquent," she playfully said and wrapped her arms around his neck and Yusuke flipped them over, this time she was beneath him.

Yusuke leaned down and gave her a small peck on the forehead, to which she responded by giving one on his nose. He smiled at her and she smiled back. Keiko watched as Yusuke rolled over, flopping himself beside her and brought the sheets up to cover them.

"Goodnight, Yusuke." And with that, her eyes shut close.

Yusuke smiled and swept away a strand of brown hair from Keiko's forehead. He gave her one final kiss on the forehead again and silently whispered, "Goodnight, Keiko."

* * *

><p>"Stay back!"<p>

Botan raised a magazine up in the air, threatening to throw it at him in case he came any closer.

To her utter irritation, Shuichi just laughed in response. "You really think that would stop me, Botan?"

When he took a few steps closer, she panicked and threw it, the magazine hitting him right in the face. But instead of a ticked off expression, she earned a wolfish grin in return.

"Quite the feisty one, are we?" He licked his lips, gazing down at her like a predator. "I like that."

She growled and pointed a finger accusingly at him. "I'll show you how feisty I can get if you don't stay away from me!" Botan challenged. Shuichi raised an eyebrow at her, with an amused smirk stuck at the corner of his mouth.

He strolled closer to her, much to Botan's horror. Realizing that there was no way out of this unless she went to hide in her room, Botan stood up from the couch and made a move to run away but he stopped her.

With one swift motion, he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back down to the couch. Her eyes were shut close at first then she flicked them open, her face draining of color at the sight of Shuichi on top of her. She opened her mouth to shriek but she didn't manage to when Shuichi clasped a hand over her mouth.

"Don't, you'll wake my mother up."

Shuichi stared at her and waited for the right moment to remove his hand. When he concluded she wouldn't scream, he slowly slid his hand away from her lips.

"If you do anything to me, I swear I'll slit your throat," Botan warned, but it didn't sound the least bit scary, especially with the dark red shade now spreading on her cheeks. Her heart was thumping loudly and she couldn't help the shiver of excitement running up her spine.

Shuichi laughed again for only five seconds before his laugh subsided and he smiled, looking down at her with something in his eyes but Botan couldn't really put her finger on what it was. When he was unresponsive, she opened her mouth to say something else but was cut off by the feeling of a warm hand trailing up her thigh before stopping dangerously close to a spot she had never been touched by anyone before.

"You've seen me half-naked a few times before, right? So why don't you let me see some of that skin you hide under those stupid clothes of yours?" he said naughtily.

Her eyes widened in shock at his actions, and more at his words. She was about to protest but when he leaned down to her neck, attacking the skin with kisses, licks and nips, an unwilling moan elicited from her lips; her damn body was acting to his touching.

"Shuichi, stop," she almost cried out. Her hand traveled down to grab his, trying to remove it from wandering so close to _there_. But she couldn't find the strength to when he purred against her neck and bit hard, not hard enough to break the skin but enough to earn a soft gasp from her. Her hand trembled and she took a few deep breaths to slow her heartbeat down – it was beating so loud, she was afraid he'd hear it. "Don't do this. We can't do this."

He stopped his ministrations and for a moment, everything was silent. Botan put her free hand on his chest to push him away gently but she didn't manage to do that when he voluntarily pulled away. And he broke into a burst of laughter. He was laughing at her. _Laughing_!

Botan's brows creased in confusion and she watched as Shuichi pulled his hand away from her thigh, still laughing because of something she didn't know. "Shuichi," she started, "You're not crazy, are you?"

Shuichi stopped laughing and a wolfish grin lingered at the corner of his mouth. He shook his head slightly, and the grin widened. "No, I just think it's funny that you actually fell for my trick."

Trick? Was this all just a trick? Botan felt anger rising in her and she pushed the redhead violently off the couch. His grin felled and he landed face first on the cold, hard surface of the floor with a thump and a sound of "oof!"

Shuichi removed his precious face from the floor and was now sitting Indian-style. He peered up at Botan who was crossing her arms and glaring at him with such intensity, he was sure she was trying to burn a hole into his head. Shuichi gave her a toothy grin, practically laughing inwardly at the vein popping dangerously at her head.

"I can't believe you did that!"

"Relax, Botan. It's just a joke. It was fun anyway."

Botan raised her arms up and waved them exasperatedly in the air. "Yeah, sure, fun. It was fun for you, of course!"

To her annoyance, Shuichi's grin only widened in return. She huffed and stood up from the couch, intending to leave Shuichi alone on the floor. He saw this and swiftly claimed her wrist in his hold before she could even take another step. She glowered at him and he smiled – where was that annoying grin a while ago?

"Aw, don't go." Shuichi managed to pull the cutest puppy-eyes look his efforts could muster.

She rolled her eyes in response and turned around so her face wouldn't be in his view. She wouldn't want him to see the grin plastered on her lips, now would she? She'd make him beg for her to stay – just to get her payback for doing that to her earlier. Yes, yes, Botan's grin broadened, this was a great idea. "Hmm… I don't know. Let me think." She titled her head and after a second, "No."

She felt Shuichi's grip tightened. "Pleaseeee?" he asked sweetly; this was embarrassing but he'd rather go through any kind of embarrassment if that meant she wouldn't leave him.

"Nope."

"Pretty please?"

"Nope."

He couldn't help the frown that was now embedded on his forehead. Nevertheless, he asked again. "Pretty please with sugar on top?"

That was it; she let out a giggle and whipped her body around to face him. Shuichi would've been pissed by her giggling at his embarrassment but he was too absorbed with thinking how cute she looked with that smile on her lips and that color of pink tinting her cheeks to even bother being angry.

"My gosh, Shuichi… Did you actually say that?" Botan sauntered over to where he was and bent down until they were eye-leveled. "That was so cute!"

"Maybe, but no one can be as cute as you are," he replied and Botan's cheeks flushed in shyness at his words, feeling slightly flattered by them. She tried to utter something but then she felt a tug at her wrist and before she knew it, she was sitting rather comfortably on Shuichi's lap with his face only an inch apart from hers.

Botan blinked and Shuichi just smiled at her, grabbed both of her hands and wrapped them around his neck. He was reminded of his earlier birthday party; from before Jin and Yusuke had interrupted his confession that he hadn't manage to get out of his lips.

But now he and Botan were alone. It was just the two of them. No one else was there. Yukio and Shiori were asleep so they wouldn't be able to bother them. This was it, it was time. He could finally tell her how he felt. "Botan…"

His voice sounded so serious and sincere at the same time, Botan couldn't help but feel a rush of excitement and waited impatiently for him to continue. His hands reached for her waist, giving each side a squeeze, his mesmerizing eyes staring at her and looking deep into her soul. Blood rushed to her cheeks and she cursed herself for being so easily flustered by him and him for doing this to her. "Y-yes, Shuichi?"

"I lo—"

_BADUMP!_

A loud thud came from Shiori's and Yukio's bedroom. Both teenagers blinked twice at this before peering over to the room in unison. They stared at the door for a few moments and then Botan turned her head to look back at Shuichi and he conveniently looked back at her at the same time.

"Uh…" Botan struggled for words. She wanted to hear what Shuichi had to say but she also wanted to check up on her dad and Shiori. She was scared something happened and yet, she felt as if Shuichi was much more important. "W-what were you saying?"

Shuichi stared at her for a few seconds, before closing his eyes and heaving out a loud, exasperated sigh. He wanted to tell her but now the mood was completely ruined. He was interrupted twice. Twice! At the same night! _'Maybe this is a sign I'm not supposed to tell her yet,' _he thought to himself.

"Shuichi?"

The said redhead cut his musings short at the sound of her voice. He opened his eyes again and ogled her face. There was curiosity, and exhilaration; it was obvious to him that she couldn't wait to know and that she was silently asking for him to answer. But with the thought of now being the wrong time to tell her, Shuichi just gave her a small, weak smile and patted her head in response to her unspoken question.

"You go ahead and check if they're okay."

She frowned at him but his smile only widened. Waiting for him to change his mind and confess to her what it was that he wanted to tell her and upon seeing that he wasn't going to, Botan sighed and got up from his lap, walking towards their parents room.

Shuichi stood straight up from the floor and peered at Botan, gazing at her back for what seemed like the longest time, longing to just go and declare his feelings for her. But he stopped himself before he could and just flopped down to the couch. He glared at the table with so much animosity and frustration that if it was an animate object, it would've cower and run away in fear.

A hand was held out to grab at the doorknob but before Botan could even touched it; the door was wide opened and revealed no one other than her annoying dad, Yukio. He scratched the back of his head – she noted his hair was messy and that was probably an indication that he had just gotten up from his sleep – and grinned sheepishly at her. "Sorry. Did I disturb you guys or something? I felled from the bed."

She couldn't help herself from pulling a scowl on her features. That was it? Damn Yukio for butting in hers and Shuichi's moment. She bit her lip to stop herself from cursing at her dad – which was a normal thing in her family – but the thought of waking Shiori up didn't let her.

Yukio glanced over her shoulder and then looked back at her with a snicker. Botan's scowl considerably deepened at this and she pushed Yukio inside, paying no attention to his whispers of "What? What?". She was peeved, not only because Yukio was teasing her but also because of the frustration of not knowing what it was that Shuichi was about to say to her – which was something she blamed Yukio for.

Once he was inside, he grinned at her and she glared in return, closing the door slowly, despite the fact she wanted nothing but slam it shut _loudly_. She took a few deep, calming breaths to control her anger and walked back to Shuichi who was still glaring at the table.

"Shuichi."

His eyes blinked at his name and he snapped his head around to look at her. "Yeah?" was his only answer.

Botan smiled at him and, "Do you want a drink? I'll make the both of us tea or something. What do you want?" She tried not to pester him about what happened earlier.

Shuichi smiled back in return. "I'll have jasmine tea, if that's okay."

Nodding her head once at his request, Botan strolled to the kitchen, leaving Shuichi alone on the couch to ponder in his thoughts. What would've happened if he hadn't been cut off? He would've known how she felt for him, and she would've known how he felt for her in return. But how would've it ended? Would she return his feelings? Or would she reject him?

Shuichi let out another loud, exasperated sigh and laid himself on the couch, grudgingly staring up at the ceiling. Wondering about it would only mount his frustration and add fuel to his already pissed off state of mind. He rolled over to his side, and bit his lower lip. But still… He snapped out of his thoughts when his eyelids felt heavy. Eh? Why was he suddenly feeling drowsy? A yawn escaped his mouth and his eyes slowly closed. _Maybe a little nap wouldn't hurt_. With that, he let sleep take him over and wandered off into dreamland.

. . .

Botan came back a few minutes later, carrying a tray with two cups of tea on it. "Tea's ready!" she announced. But she was greeted by only the silence in return, she peeked over at Shuichi and her lips quirked up into a soft, gentle smile.

Sitting down and crawling towards the sleeping redhead, Botan brought her knees up to her chest as she watched him. Stupid Shuichi with that stupid cute sleeping face of his and that stupid red hair spreading all over the couch.

"I love you."

Stupid Shuichi for falling asleep when she finally confessed to him. But then, he was asleep after all and that had perhaps made her feel as if it was easier to tell him. And there it was, that fact that he was sleeping so he didn't hear what she said, giving her nothing but the sound of his soft snores as a response.

Still, the smile never wavered from her lips and she placed a featherlike kiss on his lips. Pulling away and sweeping away a few locks of red hair so she could clearly see his face, Botan's hand cupped his cheek, her thumb lingering on his lips. She giggled to herself and slowly removed her hand from the warmth of his skin.

"Maybe next time I'll tell you when you're not sleeping."

With that, she took off the pair of fluffy fox ears that was still placed on top of his head.


	14. Chapter 14: The Mornings (Omake)

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. It belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi.**

**You're Not So Bad**

**Chapter 14: The Mornings (Short chapter)**

Shuichi groaned, rolling in his sleep. For a moment, he thought it was still dark outside but then he felt the heat of the sun rays peeking through the windows and the realization that it was morning struck him. What time was it? He opened his eyes slowly, blinking away the blurriness and glanced at the clock.

_9:00 a.m._

He must've overslept. Shuichi snorted at himself. Well, that was to be expected considering how late he had stayed up last night. Speaking of last night... Didn't Botan say something about making them tea? He peered at the table and saw nothing but two ears; one cat ears, which Shuichi assumed was Botan's and other fox ears that obviously belonged to him. He arched an eyebrow questioningly at the ears. From what he could recall, he didn't take off his ears. Did Botan do that?

Shuichi's eyes darted to the windows and he flinched as the light blinded him. He turned his gaze away and slowly sat up. Glancing around for any signs of Botan (or his mother and Yukio, for that matter), and seeing no one in the living room, Shuichi got off the couch and sauntered into the kitchen.

He walked over to the sink and looked inside; as he expected, there were two empty cups of tea. Botan had drank them all, was what Shuichi presumed. He didn't mind though, it wasn't good to waste anyway. Turning the pipe on, he started to wash the cups.

"Oh my, Shuichi. You're finally up." He didn't need to look to know who it was. "Yes, mother. Though a bit late than I usually would. Did you sleep well last night?" Shuichi watched as bubbles started to form in his hands. For a fleeting moment, an image of a naked Botan showering and washing her hair, forming bubbles in the sky blue locks appeared in his mind. He almost choked on his own saliva. What the hell was he thinking?

He shook the less than appopriate thoughts out of his head as his mother responded with a giggle, "Yes, I slept well. Is that what you wore last night?"

Shiori's question struck him as odd at first, but then he realized the white hakama he was still wearing from the night before. Oh, so that's why. His mother didn't know where he had gone, so she probably didn't know why he was wearing this. He opened his mouth to explain but Shiori cut him off with a wave of her hand, "Don't worry about it. When I woke up this morning, I asked Botan-chan why you were wearing a hakama and why there were ears on the table and she told me you two went to an animal costume party."

Then she sighed, "I'm sorry about your birthday though. I forgot. I guess it's because I'm spending too much time with Yukio..." and she gave him a smile.

Shuichi looked at her and smiled back but his was a reassuring one. "It's okay, mother. I don't mind. It's not that important."

Shiori still looked guilty though. "Maybe I should minimize my time with Yukio...?" she murmured, but to Shuichi, it somehow sounded as if she was saying that to herself instead of him.

Nonetheless, he responded, "No, don't, mother. I'm fine. Like I said before, it's not important. Yukio-san and you seem happy, I don't want to get in the way of you two."

When she opened her mouth to retaliate, he raised a hand as an indication that he didn't mind at all. She stared at him for a few moments before looking away and then looking back at him with a small smile on her face. "I am happy with him. You and Botan-chan look happy, too."

At the mention of Botan's name, Shuichi almost dropped one of the cups in the sink. To his utter relief, he managed to grabbed it before it did. His heart was suddenly thumping loudly and skipping beats. God, he was _so_ into her. But his mothers words made him gulp. Did Botan and him look happy together? I mean, he was happy but... the way his mother said it was bordering on at the meaning of him and Botan happy as a _couple_.

But the problem was, they weren't a couple. So Shuichi opened his mouth to deny that, only to cut himself off when Shiori walked over to the stairs, calling out Botan's name in the process. And wait was that a "_Botan-chan, Shuichi's calling for you!_" he heard from his beloved mother?

Shuichi would've nearly dropped another cup if he wasn't finished washing them already. "Mother!" he exclaimed, a dark shade of red coloring his cheeks. Shiori turned to look at him and gave him a grin before skipping away into the living room and turning on the television. For a moment, Shuichi couldn't help but wonder one thing…

"Where did you find the remote, mother?" and he sauntered over to the couch, but he didn't sit down; he just stood there and stared at the tv screen.

Shiori glanced at him from her shoulder, her grin widening slightly when the sound of a feminine "I'm coming!" came from the stairs; while Shuichi jumped at the voice. She then answered him, "Yukio accidentally threw it under the fridge last night and I guess he forgot to put it back on the table."

"Speaking of Yukio-san," Shuichi was now ignoring the sound of footsteps walking down the stairs, "where is he?"

"He went to the store to buy some groceries we need," Shiori replied absent-mindedly, her eyes fixated on the stairs, looking for any signs of her son's misunderstood girlfriend.

Shuichi heaved out a sigh. "Mother…" He was about to say something about Botan when she suddenly came into view, standing at the end of the stairs. She gave him an inquiring look and he gave her a confused one in return.

"What were you calling me for?" Botan questioned him and he shook his head as a response, and this time it was Botan's turn to feel bewildered. "But, Shiori said you…"

"I didn't," Shuichi contradicted before she could manage to finish her sentence. Both of them turned to look at Shiori who was now grinning sheepishly. She stood up from the couch and sprinted for the door. "Well, I'll see you two later, okay? I'm going to see if my sweetheart's doing fine. Ha-ha, you know, wouldn't want him to buy the wrong things, right?"

Before they could reply, she slammed the door shut with a cry of "Bye!"

Shuichi and Botan stared at the door for a few seconds, wondering what the hell just happened. After a while, Botan took her eyes of the door and spoke, "I guess it's the two of us now." Wasn't that obvious? But she still couldn't help but wonder why she always ended up being alone with Shuichi; was fate playing tricks on them or something? Not that she minded, of course.

Shuichi clapped his hands. "Yay~!" he said childishly and managed to pull a face only a five year old could. That was proven wrong though as he succeeded on making that face without any effort at all.

Botan shot him a weird stare. "You're not planning to rape me, are you?"

To Botan's utter disgust, Shuichi's lips tugged into a wolfish grin as he ogled up and down her body. That was when he noticed she was wearing different clothes than the night before, signaling that she had showered. The image he conjured up earlier when he was washing the cups came back and that automatically caused his grin to widen. "You know, that might not be a bad idea…"

She gasped in horror, but Shuichi's grin widened again. "Oh my god, Shuichi… You're sick, I swear."

He laughed at her words, the perverted side of him gone in an instant. "You're funny, Botan," and he sat down on the couch, grabbing the now retrieved remote and began flipping the channels for something interesting. Though a smile still stayed on his face.

She grumbled something he didn't quite catch under her breath and followed his actions, taking a sit on the couch. "If I'm funny, then you're weird, Shuichi. How you can switch from a pervert to a completely normal guy is beyond my knowledge."

"I have multiple personality disorder," Shuichi replied sarcastically and laughed at the death glare she sent him. He was mocking her and she didn't like that.

"Ha-ha, very funny, Shuichi," she said dryly.

"I know, I'm working on my jokes." Did he just mock her again? Botan shot another heated glare his way and Shuichi looked away, whistling a tune and looking as if he was innocent. But she could still tell that he was trying to hold back another laugh from the way he was biting his lower lip.

"Shuichi…" she warned and he raised his arms up in defeat. "Okay, okay! I'll stop!" and he gave her a toothy grin, to which she responded by shaking her head at his behavior.

"You're such a kid, Shuichi…" Botan mumbled and snatched the remote out of his grasp, smirking at the surprise yelp of "Hey!" she earned in return.

"Why don't you go ahead and take a bath?" Botan suggested and he smiled at her. "You stink," she went on, and wrinkled her nose in disgust just to emphasize her words. Of course, he didn't smell. Since when had he ever smell? Those scent of roses always followed him. Still, that didn't mean he didn't have to shower.

Shuichi made a "tsk" sound, probably because he wanted to tease her some more. But he complied. "Okay, fine."

He stood up and pouted at nothing in the floor. He mumbled something inaudible and then a thought occurred to him. One last tease before he went to his room wouldn't hurt, right?

"Hey, Botan," he called and she snapped her head, "What?"

Botan really, really regretted turning to look at him in the first place. Shuichi tugged at the sleeve of his hakama, revealing a bit of his chest. He relished in the way her cheeks flushed red. "W-what are you doing! Are you insane?!"

God, she was stuttering again.

He raised an eyebrow at her, his emerald eyes glinting in amusement at her reaction. "You don't want to see me strip before I go?"

"And then what?! You're going to walk around the house butt naked?!" Botan screamed bloody murder.

"That wouldn't be so bad, now would it?" Shuichi leered at her. "You'll even enjoy the free show."

Botan wanted to bang her head on the wall. Great, his perverted persona was back. She didn't know if she was going to survive another day with him…

"I'll even let you give me a lap dance if you want."

'_Oh my god!'_ Botan inwardly yelled in horror.

Yes, what a great morning this was.

* * *

><p>Ha-ha. I wanted to write a short chapter. Kind of like an omake, I suppose. XD The next chapter will be a continuation of this one. But sadly, it might be the last chapter. (I said, MIGHT!) And I'll probably put a complete category on this story soon.<p>

Well, hope you all have a nice day! Peace yo!

-Wendy McCalister


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. It belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi.**

**You're Not So Bad**

**Chapter 15**

Shuichi wondered if it was a bad mistake for letting her do this to him in the first place.

You see, after waiting for Shuichi to finish showering and endless teasing (in Shuichi's part) and angry yelling (in Botan's part), the latter had somewhat suddenly decided to tie the former's hair up, giving a lame excuse of how she wanted to see how he looked in that kind of style. Of course, it was just Botan's way of getting payback and she was now continuously giving the red hair harsh tugs. Which was what lead to this.

"Ow! Stop that!"

Botan pouted and instead of stopping like Shuichi had demanded her to, she only tugged harder on his hair. Grinning at the wince she earned in return, Botan taunted, "Oh, sorry. Did that hurt?" (They were sitting on the couch, by the way)

Shuichi lifted his head to look up but Botan grabbed the top of his head before he could and forced him to stay put. She heard him grumble something under his breath and she could've sworn if Shuichi was looking at her, he would be sending death glares.

"Do you even know what you're doing?" he asked with an annoyed tone in his voice. He felt her comb his hair at first, but as soon as those words left his mouth, she tugged again and he resisted the urge to curse.

The girl rolled her eyes. "I tie my hair up in a ponytail almost everyday, what do you think?" she replied sarcastically.

Shuichi scowled. "So why the hell are you torturing me like this?"

She broke into a burst of laughter, and for a moment, he didn't know if he should be pleased or pissed off to hear that. Sure, he loved her and the sound of her voice was like music to his ears but right now, she was really getting on his nerves.

"Relax, Shuichi. You're acting as if I'm going to kill you."

"Not me! But you're killing my precious hair!" Shuichi replied dramatically and Botan couldn't help but bite on her lower lip to stifle back the laughter that was threatening to come out.

She settled with a Cheshire-like grin and another tug on his hair instead, her grin widening slightly at the curse elicited from the redhead. "I never thought you were those kind of boys who's scared of their 'precious' hair getting ruined," Botan taunted once again, emphasizing the word "precious" to make him even more irritated.

Shuichi was getting suspicious of where this conversation was leading to. What? What did she mean by that? "What the effing loving hell are you talking about?" Though he could already tell the meaning behind her words already…

"Oh, you know what I'm talking about."

"No, I don't know what you're talking about," Shuichi stubbornly denied. Damn her for making him have this conversation. "What do you mean 'those kind of boys'?"

"The feminine kind. You know, the ones who keep their hair long and get overly dramatic when their 'valuable' hair gets damaged. Things that usually girls are hung up about," Botan explained further, her voice dripping with innocence but Shuichi could tell the suppressed evilness in it. Evilness, he tells you!

As Shuichi glowered at the television screen, he couldn't help but wonder if he could burn a hole into it. Botan was lucky he was so head over heels with her or else, she would've been begging for his forgiveness by now…

"Just because I care for my hair doesn't mean I'm feminine, Botan."

"Okay, but if you ask me, I have a hard time believing a guy who yells out 'my precious hair!'…" Botan mumbled to herself, but she made sure her voice was loud enough to reach his ears. Not that she had to though, since Shuichi pretty much had great listening senses anyway.

His glare intensified. If only the television was only a live thing… it would be crying in fear right now because of how scary Shuichi looked. "Whoever said it's a crime to say that out loud? Plus, you would consider your hair precious, too."

"I would, but that's because I'm a girl," Botan retorted. At this point, she had stopped tugging at his hair. Who cares? She was now having her own fun watching the way Shuichi was now squirming uncomfortably. This conversation was a way better method to get him to suffer! Admittedly, she was very, very in love with him, but hey, who wouldn't think this was amusing?

"Botan," Shuichi called her name, his voice dripping with annoyance and Botan, despite noticing this, just answered sweetly with a, "Yes?".

Shuichi opened his mouth to make a smart remark but stopped himself before he could. A thought came into his mind. What if he…? Oh yes, that was a great idea! Once he was done with her, Botan would surely regret this, he was sure of that.

"Are you questioning my masculinity?" he asked sternly, trying to fight the desire to laugh and pretended as if he was still ticked off.

"Am I not allowed to?"

Botan grabbed the red hair band beside her and started to tie his hair. Though it was rather hard since she had never tied anyone's hair except hers before… But on the other hand, Shuichi's hair did smell nice, the pleasant scent of roses entering her nose.

Shuichi ignored her question. "Would you like me to prove how masculine I can be then?" Botan arched an eyebrow quizzically at his words. What was that supposed to mean?

"I know you're a male, Shuichi. I've seen you half-naked before," she retaliated, and blood immediately rushed to her cheeks at the second sentence she accidentally blurted out. Now why did she have to go and say that?! God, how embarrassing!

The redhead could tell that she was blushing now. He, himself, couldn't help from flushing beet red at what she said, but the blush quickly faded away into thin air and a wolfish grin replaced it. He knew she was embarrassed but of course, she didn't know how far embarrassed she would get soon… He mentally laughed evilly at the thought of what was going to happen next.

His thoughts were cut short though as Botan suddenly handed him a small mirror. It didn't take him long to realize she was asking him to look at his reflection, and for a moment, Shuichi didn't know if he should. He was against the idea; terribly, terribly against it. Scared of what she might've done to his hair. In spite of that, he accepted it, a bit reluctantly.

He brought the mirror to his face and expected to see a funny hair style or something but instead, he was greeted by the sight of a neatly-tied ponytail. It wasn't too high, nor was it too low, but it was enough to make him look…nice. Still, he didn't like it. He preferred to let his hair loose, thank you. Besides that, he couldn't shake off the fact he looked slightly girly in this style.

"How is it? Do you like it?"

"It's not bad," Shuichi answered her. True, it wasn't bad but he was more comfortable without his hair tied up. He reached to get the hair band off his hair but Botan stopped him, grabbing his hand and pulling it away.

"Don't, you look good."

"You mean 'good' as in I look like a girl, don't you?" he grudgingly guessed and upon hearing her soft laughter, Shuichi was once again unsure if he should be angry or happy to hear the ear-pleasing sound. He was then reminded of the plan he had plotted earlier in his head and he dropped the mirror. "Like I asked you before, do you want me to prove to you how masculine I actually am?" he asked again with a mischievous grin tugging at his lips. But, Botan couldn't see that, now could she?

"And like I said before, I know you're a male, so cut it off," Botan countered, slightly confused as to why he was so hung up on that question.

And she was even more confused when he turned around to look at her all of sudden, claimed her wrist in his hand and before she even realized it, she was sitting on his lap, both staring at each other. That was when everything became clear to her; Shuichi was giving her that look again. That look he'd usually have when he was up to something…er, inappropriate. Eyes glinting with mischief, and lips quirked up in a seductive smirk.

Botan tried to get off of him but he only held her waist, and pulled her back down in return. She gulped audibly; what was she thinking trying to get revenge on him for teasing her in the first place? She should've expected he would revert back to his perverted persona again. "Shuichi, let me go," she demanded, despite how excited she felt, and her heart beating loudly in her chest. Oh, how wonderful. Her face was also heating up now.

"Do you want me to prove my point or not?"

Please don't let her stutter, please don't let her stutter… "W-why do you keep asking me that? I-I told you already, y-you don't have to. I know you're a boy, okay?" Great, she just stuttered.

"Don't you know what I'm trying to say here, Botan?" She shook her head in response and the smirk on his charming features visibly widened, sending a shiver up Botan's spine. "What I mean is…" He was now using a low, husky voice, "…I'll show you something only a man can do."

To put more emphasis in his words, Shuichi's hands traveled down from her waist to her hips, drawing her closer into his lap. She flushed redder – both in embarrassment and anger – as she caught on the dirty meaning behind his sentence. "S-Shuichi! What the heck are you saying!"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Oh, do you still not get what I mean?"

Botan's blush deepened once again. "N-no! I get it!" Oh god, why did Shuichi have to embarrass her so much?

"That's great then. Oh, and don't worry. I'm not as 'feminine' as I look when I'm in bed," and Shuichi licked his lips. Botan turned redder **– **if that was even possible.

"S-Shut up, Shuichi! I didn't need to know that!" With that, Botan slapped him hard on the face and when Shuichi let go of the grip he had around her, she swiftly moved away from him. She got up from the couch and started to walk away with a dark red color on her cheeks but she was immediately stopped in her tracks when a hand grabbed at her arm and pulled her back to Shuichi.

Botan shut her eyes tight, expecting to be in a close proximity with Shuichi but when she felt no one pressing against her, she flicked her eyes open again and instead, saw Shuichi smiling softly at her with this... something in his eyes. She also noticed his left cheek was red from where she had hit him, but she was more preoccupied with the look he was giving her than that.

A gulp. "W-what?" she stammered out, but his smile only widened in return.

"Nothing~!" he responded childishly, and Botan couldn't help her eyebrows from creasing, the blush disappearing from her face. What was he doing, looking at her like that and suddenly acting like a kid? She couldn't get what he was thinking, but that was probably what made him even more loveable to her.

Shuichi, on the other hand, was still smiling like a complete idiot. Yes, this was the Botan he loved. The easily frustrated, easily flustered, and easy to slap someone Botan. In the past, he hated her guts, he couldn't stand being in the same room with her, and if this had happen, he would probably be thinking of ways to kill her slowly and painfully. But this wasn't then, and he loved everything she did. Even if Botan yelled at him, or hit him, he wouldn't mind. Because she was Botan and Shuichi loved her.

'_She's driving me crazy,' _His smile widened again at her still bewildered expression, _'…and strangely, I don't care.'_

"I think you're crazy, Shuichi. I just slapped you so hard enough to make you faint, but you're still smiling at me. Have you lost your mind?" Botan's voice reached his ears, snapping him out from his musings and bringing him back to reality.

Shuichi laughed, somewhat amused by her words. "Maybe." _'I've lost my mind because of you.'_

"I'm going to call the mental hospital," she playfully joked, and gave him a teasing smirk. Of course, she didn't mean that, and Shuichi knew that. Why would she put her Shuichi in the mental hospital anyway?

"Yeah, you do that. Go ahead and walk to that phone, so I can stare at your cute butt when you turn around," Shuichi purred.

Botan's smirk vanished and her face was immediately red again. "Oh my god, Shuichi…! You're such a pervert!"

Shuichi laughed once again. "How many times have you said that?"

"S-shut up!" With that, she tackled him to the couch, hitting him again and again on the chest with that adorably flushed face of hers.

"Whoa, Botan! Wanton, aren't you? You just can't wait to have me, huh?"

"Why don't you start thinking with your brain and not your dick, Shuichi!"

"Oh my goodness… Botan! Is that a word for a lady like you to use?" he teasingly replied and that only got him an exasperated shout and another hit in return.

"I'll kill you, I swear!"

"Yeah, sure. And I want to rape you, I swear."

"Damn it, you perverted redheaded smartass!"

Shuichi was now laughing uncontrollably while Botan was roaring out curses (with a deep, red blush on her face) at him.

* * *

><p>"Why don't you just give him a call, Kaito?" Yanagisawa asked for the umpteenth time that day, wondering why his bespectacled friend wouldn't do as he asked him to.<p>

"What? No!" Kaito replied and gave Yanagisawa a look which was practically a direct translation of 'how-many-times-have-you-asked-that?' and Yanagisawa returned the look with a 'why-won't-you-just-do-it?'.

"Look, you want your damn books or not?" Yanagisawa tested and Kaito scowled at his words, knowing how right he was.

"I do! But…"

Yanagisawa rolled his eyes in annoyance, wanting to bang his head somewhere; anywhere because of how stubborn Kaito was acting. "So, just call him and ask him to go buy them for you. I mean, since you don't want to get out of this house…"

Kaito's scowl considerably deepened. "It's not like I don't want to! But my mom's not allowing me to until I finish this goddamn thing, now is she?!" He kept his voice in a low volume so his mom, who was sewing some clothes in her room, wouldn't hear him.

He glared at the cooking materials on the table. He was never that good at cooking but his mom had asked him to make an omelet rice (because she wanted him to try to improve his skills) so he had no choice to oblige with her orders.

"Right. Which is why you should just ask Shuichi for help," Yanagisawa responded smartly. He felt sorry for his friend really, but that didn't mean he was going to help him. So he just sat there on the counter, watching him instead. _'Aren't you supposed to be the genius here?'_

He didn't miss the way his bespectacled friend frowned at the name. "We're talking about Shuichi Minamino here, Yana…" he mumbled, his voice barely audible for anyone to hear, but Yanagisawa caught his words clearly.

"I know you feel some sort of rivalry, or whatever it is, towards him. But let's be honest here, you want the books right?" Yanagisawa earned a nod in return. "So, just call him and ask him to buy them for you."

"How come you never help me when I need you…" Kaito muttered to himself and upon seeing the stern expression Yanagisawa was giving him; he sighed and raised his arms up in the air in defeat.

"Okay, okay! Hand me the phone."

Yanagisawa did as he was told to, fetching in his pockets for his cellphone and gave it to Kaito.

Kaito looked questioningly at Yanagisawa who just shrugged his shoulders in return. He sighed again and shook his head. Oh, it didn't matter whose phone he used anyway. Dialing Shuichi's number, Kaito waited grudgingly for the redhead to pick up.

* * *

><p>"Come on, Botan. It's just a joke~!" Shuichi said childishly and broke into a howl of laughter.<p>

Botan held a fist in front of his face, a vein popping dangerously at the back of her head, "A joke?! What kind of joke is that?" and she cried out indignantly, but Shuichi only laughed louder.

"You're not normal, Shuichi…" Botan muttered under her breath and she watched as he laughed his soul out. Didn't he hear what she said?

She stared at him some more, but when it seemed as if he wasn't going to stop anytime soon, Botan got worried his stomach might explode from laughing too much. "Shuichi! Shuichi! Get a hold of yourself, you idiot!" She grabbed him by the collar and started to shake him violently. Despite her efforts though, Shuichi didn't so she began to shake him harder.

"Oh my god, I'm spinning…"

"Snap out of it, you sex maniac!" she snapped, and hit him hard across the face. After a few moments passed by, he finally stopped, the seemingly endless string of laughter subsiding slowly.

Silence engulfed them. And for a moment, Botan started to wonder if she hit him too hard. A feeling of regret crept up to her skin and she opened her mouth to apologize only to cut herself short when Shuichi suddenly spoke. "You're mean, neko-chan! Calling me a sex maniac like that."

The guilt soon died down and Botan reverted back to her short tempered, always yelling self. "That's because it's true!" and she continued her previous harsh movements of shaking him.

"Is that so?" Shuichi arched an eyebrow at her, cocking his head innocently to the side and staring at her with big, emerald and what Botan assumed was sparkling eyes. His act only made Botan even more furious and she shook him harder. If Shuichi was a normal human, he would be feeling dizzy by now. But then again, he wasn't that normal, now was he? So he just chuckled at her antics.

When Botan heard him chortled at her behavior, she yelled out, "You're having fun with this, aren't you? It 'entertains' you to see me so pissed off, doesn't it?!"

To Botan's utter wrath, she caught side of a toothy grin lingering at the corner of Shuichi's mouth. "It does actually." And hearing his answer only made her cry out a 'cute' endless list of curses at him, to which he responded with his grin widening at every sentence that came out of her mouth.

"Damn you, damn you, damn you! I hate you soooo much, Shuichi!" Botan roared out. Of course, she didn't mean that but hell, he was so frustrating. Why did he treat only her like this? Why couldn't anyone else suffer this… annoying, stupid, idiotic and 'will-eat-you-alive' version of Shuichi? …On the other hand though, maybe she didn't really want anyone else to get this 'special treatment' from him anyway. She wouldn't like it if Shuichi touched any other girls other than her or teased any other girls besides her. If she'd ever see him act this way around other women, she would kill him and—

Thankfully, her thoughts were cut off before it could get any darker. "No, you don't," Shuichi replied and for a moment, Botan thought he was teasing her like he usually would again, but when he saw the serious and intense look in his eyes, she knew he meant that. Those piercing emeralds stared at her, and Botan had to slap herself inwardly to remind herself that she should speak.

"W-what?"

"You don't hate me." As instantly as those words left his lips, Shuichi's own hands claimed both of hers in a soft yet firm hold. Botan's cheeks flushed in embarrassment and her heart started to skip beats as she continued to peer down at the guy she was in love with. Why did Shuichi have this much… affect on her? Was this how it felt to love someone?

"I-I don't. It's just something I-I said because I'm angry. I didn't mean it, y-you know that… Right?"

He gave her that heart pounding smile of his and she did all she could not to swoon at the sight. "I know."

A few seconds passed by, then Botan suddenly found the courage to lean down and give him a small peck on the lips. She pulled away to look at him and his smile widened in return. One of his hands let go of one of hers and it trailed up to her hair, entangling the long, rough fingers around the soft, silky azure strands. They leaned closer, their noses touching and in a few more seconds, their lips would touch. Closer, closer, closer and then…

_RING! RING! RIIINNNG!_

…Shuichi's cellphone went off.

The owner pulled away and held back the urge to throw something to vent his anger on. He grumbled under his breath and reached inside his pocket; Botan's slightly disappointed expression didn't go unnoticed by him. He shot her a small smile and she smiled back in return, although a bit reluctantly and got off from his lap. He nearly groaned at the loss of contact and warmth.

He flipped the piece of machinery on and upon opening it, saw Kaito's number glaring at him in bright white light. His brows furrowed. Kaito calling him? Now, that was… uncommon and confusing at the same time. Nonetheless, he shrugged it off and accepted the call. Putting the phone close to his ear, he tried hard not to snap at his bespectacled classmate, "Hello, Kaito?"

* * *

><p>"<em>Hello, Kaito?" <em>He heard the familiar voice from the other side. It was him. It was Shuichi.

Kaito resisted the urge to rip his hair out of its roots. Calling Shuichi and asking him for help like this… He didn't like this. No siree. Not even one bit. Oh, don't get him wrong. It wasn't as if he didn't like Shuichi or anything. But Kaito was a bit of a perfectionist at times, he'd always accomplish things other people couldn't. That was why people called him a genius. Despite the fact though… Shuichi was way more of a genius than he was. Kaito hated to admit that, but it was true. He was always second, and that redhead was always first. He always lost to Shuichi. So asking his help to buy his books (books, of all things!) like this was not only embarrassing but also degrading.

Of course, he was the only one who felt that sort of feeling to win towards Shuichi. Shuichi on the other hand, felt nothing but a mutual respect for someone almost as similar as he was. Sometimes Kaito couldn't help himself from wondering, is this a one-sided rivalry?

"Hello, Minamino," he greeted back, keeping his voice in a cool tone and trying to control the frustration in him. "How are you?"

"_I'm fine. What a surprise this is. Is there something wrong? You've never called me before."_ Shuichi's sounded as if he was in genuine shock. Well, Kaito couldn't blame him. It was correct anyway. He had never given him a call before. _'Yeah, because I don't want to,' _Kaito thought but he wasn't stupid enough to voice what was on his mind.

"Yes, well, I'm in a bit of a pinch here," he replied and then darted his eyes to Yanagisawa who was trying hard to hide a snicker with the palm of his hand. Kaito wasn't a simpleton though, so he noticed it almost quickly. "I need your assistance," Kaito went on, and gulped down a lump. "Assistance". He never thought the day he would ask that to Shuichi would ever come and he had hoped it never would. Unfortunately, it did.

"_Who is that?" _An unfamiliar feminine voice spoke in the background and Kaito couldn't help but raise an eyebrow quizzically at this. He wasn't deaf, he was sure of that. So he must have heard that for real. But whose voice was that?

"_A friend of mine." _Shuichi's response nearly made Kaito choke on his own saliva. Friend? Did Shuichi consider him a friend? He never thought it that way before… He didn't know what to think now.

"_A girl?" _Did Kaito imagine it or did he detect a slight hint of jealousy in that girl's voice? Er, well, okay. What kind of relationship did Shuichi have with that girl – whoever she was – anyway? This was strange. Strange, indeed.

"_No, it's not a girl. It's a guy. Why? Are you feeling insecure?" _Shuichi was teasing her and Kaito had to ponder whether he had that right or if his ears were playing tricks on him. Sure, Shuichi was quite a tease sometimes but he never teased anyone _that_ way.

Oh, wait. Was she his girlfriend? Now Kaito DID NOT predict that. Shuichi Minamino had a girlfriend? Shuichi Minamino, of all people? This was unbelievable. Utterly unbelievable. Although who is she really? Kaito knew only a few of Shuichi's girl friends.

"_What? O-of course not!" _Okay, that girl denied that. But then again, the way she was stuttering gave away that she was lying. Who was this?

Keiko Yukimura? The brunette was a pretty good match for Shuichi, Kaito had to say. She was smart, and so was Shuichi. And she was also quite pretty, while Shuichi on the other hand was a handsome prince (he took that from Shuichi's fangirls' words). Not only that, Keiko Yukimura, from what he had studied was very good at sports and Shuichi was quite excellent in that as well. From the outside, they had a lot in common. From the inside though, considering their personalities… Well, they might not go well. Keiko was a bit of a hopeless romantic, and Shuichi wasn't a romance type of guy. Their intelligence might be a bonus since they would have a lot to talk about, but they were too different so Kaito doubted Shuichi would choose Keiko. Plus, from what he could recall, wasn't Keiko Yukimura someone else's girlfriend?

"_Really? So why are you stuttering? You're not a good liar, you know that?" _and Shuichi chuckled, as if he was amused by the girl.

"_I'm not lying!"_

"_Yeah, right."_

Okay, besides Keiko Yukimura, who else was there? Hmm, Yukina Jaganshi, perhaps? The green-haired girl was small, polite, and soft-spoken and most guys would consider her the girl of every guy's dreams. She was an expert at cooking, sewing or any chores for that matter. And not to mention, she was too cute for anyone to resist. She might be the perfect one for Shuichi… But then again, Shuichi sometimes teased people too much and that just might make poor, little Yukina faint. So it was a no, not really. Despite the fact her brother, Hiei Jaganshi, would probably allow a relationship between his best friend and his beloved sister, Kaito didn't think the two were an excellent match… And if he wasn't mistaken, wasn't there a friend of Hiei's and Shuichi's who was head over heels for Yukina?

"_I am not lying, Shuichi!"_

"_Yes, you are."_

"_No, I'm not!"_

Kaito heard a thud sound and he had to wonder if something happened. Did they get into a fist fight? No, he doubted that. Shuichi wasn't the kind of person who would hit a girl, from what Kaito had gathered so far. So his only guess was that the girl tackled him to the ground or something. And she was probably the one hitting him, and not Shuichi hitting her. Who would have the guts to do that though?

Yukina wouldn't. So there was only one other person he knew that would probably do that to Shuichi… Shizuru Kuwabara. Yes, she was a bit of a female gangster. But, was there something going on between them? From what he remembered, Shizuru didn't like anyone, nor was she in a relationship with anyone. Shuichi and Shizuru though… No, Kaito didn't think that was a possibility. Shizuru was maybe the type of girl who preferred the rough, brave and delinquent kind of guys. And Shuichi, despite him being an athlete at school, wouldn't pick a fight with a random person so if Shizuru had to choose someone, that someone wasn't really Shuichi.

So who was this girl? Someone he didn't know, he concluded. Was Shuichi keeping a girlfriend and hiding it from everyone? Were they on a date now? I mean, they were together, right? After a moment of more questions in his head, Kaito finally decided to think about this matter later. For now, he was going to get those books. No matter what.

Kaito opened his mouth to gain Shuichi's attention again (since it seemed as if the redhead was more preoccupied with yelling out, "_Ow, ow!_" everytime the girl hit him). "Oi, Mina…"

He didn't manage to continue. _"Stop that or I'll punish you, Botan!" _was what he assumed coming from Shuichi and a loud retort of _"Don't touch me, you pervert!_" reached Kaito's ears. "…mino…" He trailed off in the end.

'_Ookayy, what the hell is going on here?' _Kaito kept repeating that question in his head over and over again. Of course, no answer came to him. And who the hell is this "Botan" person? As he expected, she wasn't someone he knew.

A few noises like struggling and yelling rang into his ears some more, and after a while, it finally stopped and Shuichi spoke again, _"Hello, Kaito? Are you still there?"_

Kaito's mouth hung agape, and Yanagisawa who had finally stopped trying not to laugh, noticed this and blinked in confusion at his friend's weird behavior. "Oi, Kaito, are you…?"

He was immediately silenced when Kaito raised a hand at him, indicating that he was silently asking Yanagisawa not to speak to him. Yanagisawa blinked again, but then shrugged it off. "Alright," was his only reply.

A few moments passed, and Kaito heard Shuichi's voice calling his name on the other side a few more times before he finally answered him, "Yes, Minamino. I'm here."

"_Oh, good. I thought you hung up on me. Now, what was it that you were saying? Something about asking for my assistance, if I'm correct?" _Shuichi guessed and Kaito hummed in response.

"Yes, I need your help to buy some books for me at the book store. I'm kind of…busy here," he answered him, glancing over at the cooking ingredients and inwardly cursing his luck. "So, can you do that for me?"

"_Sure," _Kaito almost choked at the answer; he had predicted the redhead to decline. But then he was reminded that Shuichi didn't feel that same rivalry feeling towards him so he probably thought it was the normal thing to do, _"I can do that."_

"Alright then."

"_Another thing though, Kaito, am I supposed to go to your house to give it to you? I would do that, but I don't really have a clue of what your address is…"_

"No, you don't need to do that. I'm just going to finish my 'business' here," Once again, he peered at the ingredients and cursed fate for doing this to him, "then I'll go to the book store to take my books."

"_Oh, alright, I understand. I will wait for you then. By the way, what's that business thing you're dealing with right now?" _Oh, Shuichi just had to ask that did he…

Kaito chose not to justify that question with an answer. Instead, he asked the one thing that had been bothering him the whole time they were on the phone, "Er, who is Botan?"

For a brief moment there, Kaito could've sworn he heard Shuichi cough, and then there was a pause. _"She's a… friend. Why do you ask?"_

"Oh, no reason. Just curious, that's all," Kaito replied curtly. A "friend", huh? It surely didn't sound like a friend to him. If Shuichi hesitated to answer that question, then they were more than friends. But then, on the other hand, if the two were dating, Shuichi wouldn't deny that if he thought someone else knew (Kaito knew that Shuichi must've assumed he suspected there was something going on). So, they weren't boyfriend and girlfriend. Then what were they? Kaito didn't think Shuichi and this Botan girl were just "friends".

There was something more.

"_Anyway, what are those books you need?" _Why did he suddenly change the subject?

"Right. Do you have a paper? I'll tell you and you write them down. Also, if it's not a problem, can you use your money first? I'll pay you back when I get there." He was slightly embarrassed for asking this much help from _Shuichi Minamino_, of all people but he really couldn't wait any longer to have those books.

"_No problem," _A moment passed, until Shuichi spoke again, _"Okay, I'm ready."_

* * *

><p>"Why are we doing this for your friend anyway?" Botan questioned angrily, shooting heated glares at everyone in the book store.<p>

"I can't just refuse to help him, you know?" Shuichi answered calmly, looking around for the lists of book on the paper he had in his hand. Kaito really needed a lot of books and Shuichi even began to wonder if he had enough money to pay for all of them.

"What has he ever done for you? I mean, using your money to pay for his books? Wow, Shuichi, I know you're nice but I didn't think you were _that _nice." Botan rolled her eyes, and then went on, "By the way, that was a gentle way of saying I think you're stupid. You should ask for something in return."

"I think it's a noble thing to help someone without hoping to get a reward."

"Sure, Shuichi, whatever you want to say," she spat.

Shuichi darted his eyes to her. "If I don't know better, I'd say you're jealous."

She almost jumped at his words, but then she quickly covered that by letting out a scoff, eyes still sending glares at random customers. "Jealous? Why the hell would I be jealous? He's a _guy_."

"I don't mean that kind of jealous, Botan," Shuichi corrected her, and Botan turned her head to look at him. "What I mean is, you're jealous because I'd rather come here to help Kaito than spend time with you."

She jumped almost instantly, knowing how correct his words were. It wasn't as if she had anything against Kaito – she didn't even know him, for god's sake! – but she didn't like the fact that Shuichi would help his friend rather than be with her. Of course, they were together now, but she'd rather if they were back at the house, only the two of them, thank you. Not here, at this book store, with a lot of people, and with only the reason of helping Shuichi's friend. Not to mention, this guy called Kaito interrupted a moment between her and Shuichi. What was up with everyone butting in between them?! Botan paused.

… She was definitely getting a little too touchy over this.

"Wha-? Huh?" was the only thing that she could utter.

Shuichi sent her a leer and Botan had to look away to hide her now reddening cheeks from him. "Y-you know what, forget it. L-let's just get this o-over with."

She heard a low chuckle erupting from his throat, heard footsteps walked closer to her and then felt a hand patting her head softly. "Don't worry, Botan. We have a lot of time to spend with each other. We'll always be together, today and forever."

Her face was bordering on as red as a tomato at this. She rotated her head to the right to look at him, and upon seeing the gentle, loving gaze he was giving her, she nearly swooned. "I-I… W-what the heck are you s-saying!" she cried out, trying to sound as if she was furious but failed miserably when she stuttered instead.

"I'm just saying what's on my mind, and what you want to know," he replied bluntly and amusedly at the same time. A chuckle escaped his lips once again when Botan's mouth opened and closed over and over, as if she wanted to say something but nothing could come out.

After a few more seconds of Shuichi staring with a grin tugging at his lips at Botan who stared back with her mouth slightly agape and face flushed so red, she didn't know if she could turn even redder, the girl finally found her voice, "I-I never said I want to know!"

"Yeah, sure, Botan, I believe you," Shuichi said, but Botan could detect the hint of sarcasm in his voice. She opened her mouth again to retaliate but decided to go against it at the last minute, knowing that if she retorted to that, Shuichi would say something else that would make her even more embarrassed than she was now.

So she just looked away and stuttered out a, "D-do you have enough money to buy a-all this?" changing the topic before she would get too flustered (or faint out of embarrassment, for that matter).

She wasn't even looking at him now, but she knew he was practically grinning ear-to-ear at her reaction, as if it was an enjoyment to him that he could make her so red in just a few minutes in the store. "I don't know yet. Why?"

Although her face was still red, she finally got the courage to look at him. "I-I have some cash with me, I-I'll give it to y-you if you end up not being able to pay." Damn her stuttering issues whenever it came to Shuichi.

"Eh? Really? You'd do that for me? Aww~! You're so kind, Botan! As expected of my neko-chan!" he started teasing her. God, why did he have to torture her like this?

She blushed harder – if that was possible. "D-didn't I tell you to stop calling me that? And I'm not your anything!"

'_Not yet, but you will be,' _Shuichi thought to himself, but of course, he didn't tell her that and just grinned at her like a cute, little puppy, to which Botan responded by huffing and looking away again.

* * *

><p>"Kaito-kun, are you done yet?"<p>

"Not yet, mom!"

His mom, a woman with long, black hair, was chatting with Yanagisawa (who was still sitting on the counter). Meanwhile, Kaito on the other hand, was doing everything he could to make this omelet rice as tasty as possible – since his mom threatened him that he couldn't go out if it didn't come out delicious.

That was proven hard to do though.

Damn his bad cooking skills.

* * *

><p>Shuichi and Botan ended up having just enough cash to pay for Kaito's books – when the two combined all of their money, of course.<p>

You'd think that was a good thing. But now, this was probably not the time to think about how convenient it was that the amount of money they had was the exact number of the books' prices. No, that convenience was completely forgotten, now that they were forced to have these things.

Botan gave the metal handcuffs in her hand a weird look. "What kind of book store gives these to customers?"

"I think it's wonderful," Shuichi replied, and then turned to look at her. "Don't you?"

"The bat's too strange," Botan disagreed, before peering at the said bat Shuichi was examining, and then looked back at the handcuffs, the scowl on her face deepening slightly. "And what the hell is this thing doing here?"

You see, after paying for the books, the store manager had somewhat decided to give the two 'free gifts' for doing 'good' to their store by buying a lot of books (they were the first customers to buy so many books).

If it had been a notebook or something else similar, Botan would've no problem with it. The problem was though, they weren't notebooks! Seriously, what kind of book store sells these?

"It's free," an employee, a lady who had her black hair tied into a bun, just said patiently, deciding not to answer her question.

"I know it's _free_, okay? Do you take me as an idiot?" Botan shot a venomous look at her, who smiled politely at her in response, though anyone could tell it was forced.

"No, I don't, miss." The employee shot uncomfortable glances here and there, and this didn't go unnoticed by Botan.

"Why are you looking away? Look at me when I'm talking to you." Botan stared at the lady for a few moments, waiting for some kind of glance, but when none came, she opened her mouth to say something but Shuichi stopped her.

"Botan," Her name sounded stern as it passed his lips, "Don't you think you're being a little too…"

He didn't manage to finish his sentence. "A little too _what_?" Botan spat at him, and Shuichi couldn't help himself from sweatdropping at her slightly 'unfriendly' behavior.

She had been that way ever since their little moment in the house earlier was interrupted. Getting a little too touchy, huh?

"I don't need to answer that, you already know what I mean." Shuichi earned a roll of her eyes in return and he sighed. "Maybe you should calm down a little?"

Despite the way he said it sounded as if he was asking her, Botan knew it was an order; a command, before they would get kicked out of the book store. Shuichi had quite a fondness for book stores, Botan knew that, but weren't there other book stores?

… Apparently, this one was his favorite.

"I don't want to calm down, I _am_ calm," Botan argued and Shuichi had the word "Really?" written all over his face, to which she ignored. "I just want to know why stores sell this!"

"It's convenient," the employee suddenly butted in and Botan shot her another dark stare, to which she responded by letting an awkward, forced smile spread on her face, "You can use the bat in case someone break into your house."

"We can use other things that are more useful, like knives!" Botan protested and the lady paled at the mention of knives, but more at the crooked grin Botan was sporting.

"Botan, if someone breaks into the house, we wouldn't want to kill them, right? A bat is far useful; we could just knock them out with it and call the police."

"Yeah, but by stabbing them, they'd be dead and they wouldn't try to break into the house again," she retorted and Shuichi let out a nervous laugh. He seriously didn't know if he preferred the normal Botan, or the bad-mood Botan. He had to admit, it was a bit funny to watch her scare the employee, but if things went on like this, she would end up scaring everyone in the store.

"But if we call the police, they'd be in prison and that means they wouldn't be able to try that again either."

"True, but they could escape and come back for revenge."

"… Botan, I don't think that's possible."

"Why not? If we were the ones who caused their arrest, then wouldn't they hold some sort of resent for us?"

"Like I said before, I don't think something like that would ever happen. It's unlikely. Don't you think you're putting too much thought into this?"

"… Heh, whatever."

Shuichi heaved out a sigh of relief, knowing that meant she didn't know what else to argue. After a while though, she asked incredulously, "Still, what on earth is _this_ doing here?" She held the handcuffs out to the female employee. "Care to explain what kind of 'use' does this thing have for us?"

"Well-"

"I'll give you ten seconds."

The employee had "_What the fuck?_" written all over her face, as if she thought Botan was insane. Shuichi, meanwhile, shook his head, though anyone could catch the small smirk lingering at the corner of his mouth.

"Y-you can-"

"Stop there!" Botan formed an "X" with her hands. "Time's out!"

"Eh? But miss! It hadn't even been ten seconds yet."

"I don't care."

"But-"

"No buts, I said I don't care!"

"… Sorry, miss."

Shuichi wasn't sure whether he should laugh or feel sorry for the poor employee. Botan was hilarious, and cute, too, acting so unreasonable and moody like that.

"We'll take them," Botan said out of the blue, and the employee gave her a weird stare. '_What the hell?' _Wasn't _she _the one who refused to have them in the first place?

Noticing the weird looks Botan was also receiving from other customers in the store; Shuichi immediately spoke, "We'll take them, just in case something does happen."

Botan's voice chimed in. "Didn't you say something like that would never happen?"

"I meant the taking vengeance thing you said, not the breaking into the house. That just might happen."

"Oh."

* * *

><p>"Wait, you're going already, Kaito-kun?"<p>

"I'm done with the omelet rice, mom."

"Oh, that's good then. Now let's just have a taste…." She managed to take a spoonful of the omelet rice, put it into her mouth and swallowed. Her face drained of color but before she could utter a word, Kaito ran out of the house.

"Kaito-kun! This tastes horrible!" she yelled after him.

* * *

><p>"I think these handcuffs are lovely," Shuichi said and Botan snorted in response, gripping the metal bat in her fists. "What do you mean 'lovely'? We don't know what to use them for."<p>

They were still in the book store, waiting for Kaito's arrival. As minutes passed though, there was no sign of the said teen and Shuichi had even begun to wonder if he was alright. Of course, his concern for Kaito wasn't going to get in the way of what he was about to do now.

Botan was standing in front of him (staring at other random books in the store) so she didn't see the mischievous grin now plastered on his face. "I know what we can do with them."

"Throw them away?" she retorted moodily and Shuichi's grin widened at this, not because of the plot he had in mind but because of how entertaining it was to look at Botan when she wasn't in a good mood.

"No, sweetie," he replied sweetly, and he certainly didn't miss the way she shivered at the sound of his voice. "Botan, don't you know? We have other ways of using handcuffs besides arresting people."

"Eh?" was her only confused reply, "What do you mean?" His words sparked her curiosity, and her moody self was somewhat gone in an instant.

"You know…" He wriggled his eyebrows at her, but that only mounted her confusion even more and she frowned at him, not really understanding what he was saying. Shuichi's grin widened again at this, amused at the way she was naïve about these kind of things.

"Wha-? What do you mean? Stop stalling and just tell me!" she cried out exasperatedly and flung her arms in the air.

"These handcuffs…" Shuichi started, pausing just to take in her expression which was contorted in impatience, "… I can use them on you."

"_Ha_?!" she yelled out, her frown deepening slightly. "You would honestly use _that_," she pointed at the handcuffs he was now holding in his hands, and then pointed at herself, "on _me_?!"

She received a nod in response and she shot him a glare. "Shuichi, if you think I'm going to play police with you, then you are severely mistaken."

"You're misunderstanding what I actually mean here, Botan."

"Huh?" She was now even more bewildered than before.

"I meant…" He tilted his head at her, giving a leer and she didn't even need any other signs to know he was plotting something again, she gulped, and "… we can really use this in bed."

As she had predicted, he had actually said something ridiculous. She was used to it by now, but that didn't mean she wasn't embarrassed by his constant teasing, and not to mention, they were in public now, and that only made her even more embarrassed. She was blushing hard now.

"What-? Shuichi… What the hell?"

He pouted. "Botan, you still don't get what I mean?"

Botan panicked. "N-no! I-I get it…!" She could tell he didn't pay any attention to her when he grabbed both of her shoulders, giving them a slight squeeze before pulling her to him, her body flushed against his.

She turned as red as a tomato. "O-oi, Shuichi! T-this isn't the-!" She cut her sentence short when she finally noticed everyone in the store was giving them stares and she could just hear the whispers around them.

"_Eh? Hugging in public?_"

"_Kyaa~! So sweet!_"

"_Young people these days! They have no shame at all!_"

And other things similar to those.

She tried to push Shuichi away from her, but her efforts were in vain, as he only tightened his hold around her and brought her closer. "S-Shuichi, people are looking!"

Again, he didn't acknowledge what she said, and instead, whispered seductively in her ear, "To bind you in these… and have my way with you…" He purred, "Yes, I'd love that."

What the-? Oh god, now she was sure she was about to faint from all the embarrassment. Seriously, just when she thought her 'condition' couldn't get any worse, it just did. "D-damn it, you idiotic pervert!" she screamed bloody murder, and pushed against his chest again, Shuichi would've easily stopped her, but he just let her push him away.

He grinned wolfishly at her, and her face was _really_, _really_, red. Seeing the stupid grin on his lips, Botan got angry – though her embarrassment still didn't die down –, and she gripped the metal bat in both her fists, relishing in the way Shuichi's grin felled at this, and raised it above her head, before swinging it as hard as she could.

Unfortunately, Shuichi managed to dodge it, even if it was barely. And instead of hitting her real 'target', Botan hit someone else instead; poor Kaito who just came out of nowhere.

They blinked at each other before looking down at the twitching Kaito whose eyes were in swirls.

* * *

><p>Hi, guys! As you all can see, this story isn't complete. Due to a couple of requests, from my reviewers, I decided not to end 'You're Not So Bad' yet (also after a few days made me realize I have some more ideas for this story).<p>

Well, hope you all have a nice day! – Wendy McCalister.


	16. Chapter 16: Final!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. It belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi.**

**You're Not So Bad**

**Chapter 16: Final!**

"Oh, shit. Did I kill him?" Botan said, though it sounded more as if she was talking to herself than to Shuichi.

Nonetheless, he replied, "What? Someone won't die just because of getting hit in the head with a bat!" He gave Botan a look of what seemed to be a mixture of ridicule and frustration. Did the girl seriously think Kaito was dead? It was just one hit! He wouldn't die just from one hit... right? Then again, that was a metal bat, after all. And Botan did swung it pretty hard.

Shuichi's face was now drained of colour as the realization struck him. "Oh, god... You killed him!" he shouted loudly, and started to panic all of a sudden. Botan shot him an exasperated expression.

"You think I did it on purpose?" she shot back angrily. "Besides, why did you dodge anyway?"

"Then, you want me to die?" he cried out indignantly. And then, he turned to look back at Kaito. "That's Kaito... what am I supposed to do now? What if his mother asks me what happened to him? What should I tell her?" he began mumbling to himself.

She patted his shoulder, trying to give him a little comfort. Though it didn't seem to work as he was still mumbling things that sounded like, "He's dead..." and "I'm going to jail". She sweatdropped, but then waited for him to finish talking to himself. But when his words only grew darker and darker at each passing second, Botan heaved out a sigh of irritation at this, and slapped his head. "Snap out of it, you idiot!"

To Botan's utter relief, and happiness, her efforts were successful. Shuichi finally gained his senses and shot her a death glare. "You did this! You're a murderer!" he yelled out.

"Hey, don't blame everything on me! It was your idea to buy this stupid thing anyway!" She pointed the metal bat at his direction, just to add some emphasis to her words. "So, you're partly at fault here!"

His glare only intensified in return, and for a moment, he wondered whether he should yell back at her, or just keep his mouth shut. The first choice seemed tempting, but nevertheless, he chose the second option. Shuichi bit his lower lip to prevent himself from saying anything. What the heck were they going to do now? He was not going to go to jail. Never. That wasn't going to happen anytime soon. On the other hand, maybe Kaito was still alive...

At the thought, he bent down and cautiously poked at the body. He waited for some kind of reaction, but nothing came. There was no movement at all. No twitching fingers, and his eyes didn't open either.

"We'll hide the body." Botan suddenly spoke, and Shuichi lifted his head to look at her with his emerald eyes wide as saucers. Did he hear that right or was his ears playing tricks on him?

"What?" he asked unconsciously, the word coming out of his lips without him meaning it to.

She peered down at him. "You heard me, we'll hide the body."

For some reason, they forgot there were still a few customers, and not to mention the female employee, in the book store. So they heard their conversation loud and clear, sweatdrops forming at the back of their heads.

"The hell, Botan? Are you crazy?" He looked at her as if she just grew two heads.

"No, I'm not, Shuichi! But if we don't want to get thrown into jail, then this is our only option!" Botan reasoned, shouting loud enough for even people outside of the book store could hear her.

Everyone, except for Shuichi and Botan, continued to sweatdrop at the scene they were seeing with their own eyes. Did they forget they were still there or something? It was a bit ironic to hear the two teenagers talking about escaping from the police, when there were obviously a lot of witnesses there.

"Okay, fine!" Shuichi stood up straight and flung his arms up in the air in exasperation. "So, where, pray tell, do you think we should hide it?" he tested, squinting his eyes at her. She stared back at him with a pair of equally squinted amethyst eyes.

"I... don't know," Botan answered him.

His arms felled back limply to his sides. "You don't know? And you're the one who suggested it in the first place..."

"I just don't know, okay!" she lashed out at him.

"Alright then, genius! Why don't we just bury it at our backyard or something!" he lashed back at her. His 'suggestion' passed accidentally from his lips.

Botan's angered expression was now replaced by a knowing look. Her mouth formed an 'o', and she blinked a couple of times before cupping her chin with both her index finger and her thumb, seemingly deep-in-thought as if she was actually considering the idea. "You know, we can actually do that..." she muttered under her breath.

Looking back at him, Botan was greeted by the sight of a wide-eyed, and mouth-agape Shuichi staring at her. She stared back at him with bewilderment written all over her face. "What?" she asked calmly.

"Are you freaking serious?" was the only words she earned from him.

Finally getting why he was looking at her like that, Botan let out a loud, exasperated sigh. "Well, what else do you think we should do?" she mocked him.

Shuichi's eyes blinked. Once, twice, thrice. Then his initial expression of mixed surprise and disbelieving look, changed into a heated glare. "Don't mock me..." he said threateningly.

Botan glared back at him, and opened her mouth to say something. But before she could even utter one word, another voice suddenly chimed in.

"There's no need to be so morbid, I'm not dead..."

Both of them turned their heads from each other to look at the owner. Kaito sat there on the ground, sporting a look of amusement on his face. He was biting his lower lip, and everyone in the book store could just tell he was trying to hold back his laughter.

"Kaito!" Shuichi yelled out in a mixture of surprise and relief.

Botan, on the other hand though, just beamed at bespectacled teenager, "Oh, great! You're alive!" She then threw the metal bat away, and it coincidentally landed at the top of Shuichi's head. The redhead yelled out an, "Ow!" in return, and shot a glare at the girl. Though she didn't seem to be aware of it, and just gleefully danced her way out of there.

He blinked once again at this, and then, shook his head in a disapproving way. Gingerly, he looked back at Kaito, who by now was standing instead of sitting, and dusting himself off.

"Uh, Kaito... your books are there..." he informed uncomfortably, and scratched the back of his head, looking away slightly. Kaito peered over at him, and caught a tint of pink colouring his cheeks. Probably out of embarrassment, he mused to himself.

Shuichi pointed a finger to his left, and Kaito's gaze followed his finger to the numerous books placed neatly the counter. He nodded his head once in affirmation, and looked back at Shuichi. "Thanks," he mumbled, his voice barely audible. But he didn't worry about Shuichi not hearing him, as the redhead nodded his head in return and mumbled back a, "You're welcome."

Shuichi then realized Botan who was waiting for him outside of the bookstore, her arms crossed over her clothed chest and her face contorted into a scowl, as if she didn't want to wait for him any longer. He smiled at her, and her angry look was gone in an instant. She huffed, and looked away, but he was fairly aware of the red shade spreading on her cheeks.

His smile widened slightly, and this little interaction didn't go unnoticed by Kaito. The bespectacled teenager looked back and forth between Botan and Shuichi, wondering what the hell was going on with those two. Then, he decided to shrug it off.

Shuichi seemed to finally noticed he was still there, indicating that he got distracted with Botan. His smile felled, and he blinked, looked back at Kaito and sent him a small smile. Kaito smiled back at him in a silent thanks, and Shuichi's smile broadened in response.

"Well, I'll see you another time, Kaito," Shuichi said politely.

"Sure, Minamino," he replied curtly.

Shuichi managed to give an apologetic smile at the employee, who just grinned nervously in return, before finally walking out of the bookstore.

Upon stepping out of the small building, Botan quickly made a face at him. "Geez, what took you so long?" she asked, her voice dripping with vexation. A low chuckle erupted from his chest and his hand reached out to pat her on the head.

"Sorry for the wait."

Botan blushed at the affection, and swiftly grabbed his hand, pulling it away from her head. Avoiding his gaze so she wouldn't get even more embarrassed, she stuttered out a retort, "W-whatever, let's just head back home."

His eyes glinted in mischief, seemingly amused at her reaction. "Oh, now your face is red. How cute," he childishly gushed and noted the way her blush deepened.

"S-shut up, stupid!" was the only thing she could manage to say. His hand was still in hers, and she started to pull him away from the book store.

Shuichi let out a little laugh.

* * *

><p>In the store, Kaito held the books in his hands, barely managing to keep all of them from falling to the ground. He looked out of the book store, and watched as Botan and Shuichi began to walk away from there. He took a silent note of their joined hands.<p>

Only one thought went through his head at the moment,

just what was that girl to Shuichi?

* * *

><p>"So, you left Shuichi and Botan alone?" Yukio asked, arching an eyebrow quizzically at his lover.<p>

Shiori gave him a grin. "Yeah, it's okay. I'm sure they're happy to spend more time together with each other," she replied sweetly.

He returned her grin. "And I'm happy to be with you," he added romantically. Her cheeks flushed beet red in embarrassment at this.

Smiling timidly, Shiori said in a demure manner, "Oh, you..." and gave him playful punch at the shoulder.

He broke into a howl of laughter. Smoothly, Yukio claimed a carrot in his hand, "What about a carrot, beautiful lady?" he acted, shooting a wink at her and her smile widened a bit at his display.

She then giggled. "I'd love one, kind sir," she responded cutely and shot a wink back at him.

Both of them laughed wholeheartedly.

* * *

><p>"Why are we here?" Botan asked, her brows furrowing slightly but no one could certainly miss the colour of light red tainting her cheeks.<p>

"I thought you like ice cream?" Shuichi urged with one, red eyebrow raised at her. She glanced at him for a moment, before looking back at the glass of strawberry flavoured ice cream sitting rather comfortably in front of her.

"I do, but I thought we were on our way home?" she shot back, shooting a curious look at him. He just smiled in return, and looked down to his glass of ice cream, taking a scoop of the vanilla flavoured treat.

"I just thought we should stop by. It's not like we're in a hurry anyway, right?" he questioned. Botan blinked at him for a few times before darting her eyes down to her ice cream. She didn't really know what to respond to his words. It wasn't as if she didn't want to spend anytime with him, but...

Her eyes took a small peek at Shuichi. She watched silently as he licked his spoon, his tongue devouring the ice cream essence sticking to the metal material completely. The way the wet appendage moved all over the spoon was... alluring, to say the least. She was instantly reminded of the times they've kissed before. Her blush deepening slightly as her heart started to skip beats at the memories. Still, she didn't take her eyes off his face.

After a few more moments of staring at him though, he seemed to notice her eyes on him, as he peered at her. He gave her an inquiring look and she quickly snapped out of her trance. She looked down to her hands, her face now as red as tomatoes - or maybe redder - as she realized she was caught staring. Great, now what was she supposed to do? Shuichi was going to tease her, there was no doubt about that. And she knew perfectly what would happen after that; he'd just succeed in mounting her embarrassment even more.

Okay, sure, he had always embarrassed her. On more than a few occasions, it had happened more times than she could actually count. But now, being alone with him - minus the other few customers in the ice cream shop - was just making her feel different. If she was to confess here, would anyone interrupt? No one was there to disturb them, right? She glanced up at him, her gaze in a mixture of hopeful and loving, only to look back down to her hands nervously when she saw him staring unblinkingly at her. Oh, forget about expressing her feelings for him! She was too scared of rejection.

Shuichi noticed her actions, but he kept his eyes glued her red face, his gaze scrutinizing. That look she had on her face... it was different. It was as if there was something in those pools of amethyst. His gaze felled to her lips, now slightly trembling. Was she nervous or something? She was shaking a bit, and he could've sworn he had never seen her so red in the face before.

Botan was acting strange, he concluded.

"Botan," he called, her name passed his lips smoothly. She lifted her head and peered over at him, with that adorably flushed face of hers. He opened his mouth, tempted to ask her what was wrong, but then closed it back, and decided against it. Instead he kept staring at her, this time with a warm smile etched to his lips. "You should eat that, it's melting," he told her, pointing a finger at her ice cream.

Her eyes widened and she darted them to her treat. True to Shuichi's words, the strawberry ice cream was indeed melting. She panic. "Oh, damn!" she shouted, and paid no mind to the weird stares other customers were now giving her.

A laugh erupted from Shuichi's chest and he watched as Botan began to frantically and swiftly consumed the ice cream, determined to finish all of the glass' sweet contents before it would melt completely.

* * *

><p>"A penny for your thoughts?" Yanagisawa inquired.<p>

Kaito snapped out of his musings and darted his spectacled eyes to his friend. "No, it's nothing." Truthfully, it wasn't nothing. He had been thinking of Shuichi and that girl for a while now.

It was weird, and unusual. The way Shuichi looked at her... it was obvious that the girl meant a lot to him. Botan, hmm? Interesting.

But they didn't look like they were dating, so it must've been something else. Friends? He doubted it. Or did Shuichi just care for her like a sister? It could be, but Kaito didn't think so. So, was he in love with her?

...That was most likely, in this case.

A light smile spread on his face. So Shuichi Minamino felled in love with someone, after all...

Yanagisawa seemed to notice the sudden quirk of his lips. He raised an eyebrow at his bespectacled friend. "You haven't lost your mind, right?" he bantered, an ear to ear grin plastered on his mouth.

Kaito's eyes narrowed at him. "Be quiet, Yana."

* * *

><p>"Ne, ne, Shuichi," Botan said impatiently, tugging at Shuichi's sleeve, "Can't we go home now?"<p>

Shuichi tugged back his sleeve, and then claimed her hand in his, noting the light blush that spread on her cheeks at his actions. "Why are you in such a rush, neko-chan?"

She didn't justify his question with an answer. "How many times have I told you to stop calling me that?" she scolded him instead. He broke into a fit of laughter, and it didn't take a genius to know that he was obviously entertained by her. Her mouth formed into a small pout, "Stop laughing at me!"

"I'm sorry, I can't help myself," Shuichi replied between laughs.

"Darn you, Shuichi..." she grumbled under her breath.

He squeezed her hand in response, his laughter finally subsided. "You can say anything you want, Botan... I think it's cute that you're angry," he told her in a matter-of-factly way. A smile was lingering at the corners of his mouth as he said this.

Blood immediately rushed to her cheeks at the compliment. "I-I am NOT angry," she corrected, and stuttered out her denial at the same time. "I'm embarrassed!" she added, referring to the way the nickname made her feel uneasy.

His smile widened, despite her protest. "What's the difference?" he asked her, though it sounded more like a statement than a question.

Botan scowled at him. "I thought you're the smart ass here? You know the difference! Angry is-"

He cut her sentence short. "That's not what I meant."

"Eh?" Her scowl vanished into thin air. Her features now contorted in a confused frown. "What are you talking about?"

She looked deep into his eyes, finding there was that touch of warmth and love in his eyes. Her breath hitched in her throat and she swiftly diverted her gaze. "I think you're cute no matter what you feel," he muttered, his voice low and barely audible for anyone to hear. Botan did though.

"Do you mean that or are you just saying that because you want to make me feel more embarrassed?" she couldn't help herself from asking.

"I can see that it's working," Shuichi teased, his voice dripping with playfulness. Her blush deepened at his words, and a chuckle escaped from his lips. "Yes, it is definitely working," he added seductively.

"S-shut up, Shuichi," she replied in what she hoped came out as an angry tone, but failed miserably when she stammered out her words instead.

He chuckled once again. "Like I said before, cute."

Botan turned to look - or more like glare - at him, only to found herself enchanted by him when she caught a sight of Shuichi gazing at her, those piercing emerald eyes of his glimmering in a mixture of warmth and seriousness.

"But I mean what I said, every word of it."

Her face turned into a darker shade of red - if such a thing was even possible. But she didn't say anything in response. She felt him intertwine his fingers with hers, and she let him.

"S-so, where do you want to go next?" she asked with a warm, yet timid smile now etched to her lips. For once, she didn't really care if she stuttered or not.

His gaze suddenly felled to her face. His eyes ogling up and down her body. She arched an eyebrow questioningly at him. "What?"

"I think I know where we should go next..." he said out of the blue, a wolfish grin tugging at his lips.

* * *

><p>"I-I can't believe you would even think this!" Botan shouted out in embarrassment and exasperation, gaping disbelievingly at her reflection in the mirror.<p>

"You look nice," Shuichi replied, "Though of course that's just from my perspective."

"Sure, I look 'nice' to you, you freaking pervert!" she cried out indignantly, turning around to glare at him.

He stared at her, studying every curve of her body, and how the maid costume clung to her body tightly and making her look even more seductive. Of course, not like she meant to look 'seductive', since this was just his plan.

"I can't really say that's not true." With that said, he sent a playful wink at her way.

Botan's jaws dropped. She hadn't expected him to actually admit that he liked seeing her like this. For a moment, she wondered whether she should feel flattered or creeped out. "U-uh, eh...um..." She was completely loss for words.

Shuichi rotated his head to the right. "Don't you think she looks wonderful, Kuronue?"

The pale young man who had his long, black hair tied into a high ponytail, shot him a smirk and then turned to look at Botan who was fidgeting uncomfortably. "Absolutely delicious, if I must say so myself," Kuronue purred.

You see, what happened went like this...

. . .

_"What are we doing here?" Botan looked around the maid café, taking note of the cute girls who wore tight, clingy maid outfits which didn't cover most of their bare skin. "To satisfy your eyes, I guess?" Botan assumed, a crooked grin etched at the corners of her mouth. Though there was a hint of jealousy in her voice as those words passed her lips._

_"No," Shuichi replied sternly. "That's not it."_

_She peered over at him, but he wasn't looking at her. He was more preoccupied with looking to the right and to the left. It didn't take her long to realize he was searching for someone. An acquaintance, perhaps?_

_After a while, the person finally showed up. He walked out of the door, and noticed them. Shuichi waved a hand at him; he seemed like he was taken off guard at first but then he waved back and sauntered over to them. A wide, ear-to-ear grin lingered at the corners of his mouth. Botan took in his appearance. He was quite good-looking. Pale skin, long, silky black hair and well-sculptured body. She even started comparing between him and Shuichi._

_"Well, hello there, my old pal, Shuichi," he spoke. And nice voice too, so smooth and deep, she mused. She was probably going to like this guy. "You nearly gave me heart attack! I didn't expect you to be here."_

_Shuichi smiled at him. "Hello, Kuronue. It's a pleasure to see you again."_

_"So, what business do you have here?" he asked, tilting his head at the redhead._

_"I want you," Shuichi pointed at Botan and she blinked in surprise in response, "to give her one of those clothes." He then pointed to the maid outfits the working girls there were wearing._

_"EH?" Botan screamed bloody murder. She stared at him as if he was insane._

_"Sure," the guy called Kuronue agreed. This time Botan directed the look at him._

_There he goes, ruining her -I-am-going-to-like-him- thoughts..._

. . .

Botan squeaked, and Shuichi gave him a toothy grin. "Don't even think of flirting with her, my friend. She's marked," he playfully threatened.

Kuronue peered back over his redheaded friend. "Marked? By who, may I ask?" Of course, not that he didn't know what Shuichi meant. The other male's grin broadened, exposing a row of pearly white teeth.

"Yours truly," he said smugly, and pointed his thumb at himself, with his nose high up in the air in pride.

The sky blue haired girl gawked at both guys. "What the hell do you mean by _marked_? I'm not someone's property!" she shouted out angrily.

Shuichi cocked his head to the side, his face seemingly innocent, though that innocence had never reached his eyes. Which were glinting in mischief and excitement. "Aren't you my property?" he childishly stated.

She pointed a finger accusingly at him. "When on earth have I ever been yours?!" she yelled at him in annoyance. Although the thought of being Shuichi's was what she had always wanted ever since she was aware of her feelings for him. Which was clearly growing.

He pretended to gasp in horror, and held a hand over his chest, feigning hurt. "I'm taken aback, Botan! You wouldn't even admit that you're mine? Or are you just too embarrassed to be with me?" he inquired sadly, though she could perfectly and clearly see through his act.

Botan flung her arms up in the air in indignation. "Argh!" she screamed out of frustration.

"I think you should work here, Botan-san," Kuronue suggested thoughtfully all of a sudden. She shot a death glare at his direction and a sweatdrop formed at the back of the black-haired teenager's head. Nonetheless, he ignored the intensity of her glare, and went on, "You look pretty good in that."

"I would never work here," she spat venomously.

Kuronue just continued to sweatdrop.

"By the way, are you allowed to give this to non-staffs?" Botan changed the subject, looking down at herself. It was uncomfortable, not only because the maid outfit was tight, but also because of the perverted leer Shuichi was giving her.

...Damn redhead.

"I'm the manager of this maid café," Kuronue started, after he finally stopped sweatdropping, "Of course I'm allowed to give it to non-staffs."

She shot him an inquiring look. "Really?"

"Of course, I mean really!"

"If you like it so much," Shuichi's voice suddenly chimed in, "why not work here part-time?"

"I _don't_ like it," she corrected him angrily, shooting a heated death glare at his way - just to put more emphasize into her words. "I despise this... this abomination of outfit!" she dramatically added, completely unaware of Kuronue who frowned as instantly as she said that. Shuichi seemed to notice it though.

Silence engulfed the three of them for a few moments, before Botan's eyes widened in realization. She turned to look at the slightly depressed Kuronue and upon seeing the dark aura surrounding him, Botan quickly added in panic, "I-I mean, I'm just not used to wearing this kind of thing! It's cute, really! So, so cute!"

Kuronue brightened, a wide smile replacing the initial scowl he sported on his face. "Oh, I thought so!" Where had that depressed, dark young man earlier gone to?

He started to skip his way out of there (the trio were in the kitchen, and coincidentally there was a mirror there). Well, it was time to continue his job. He reached for the doorknob, twisting it and opening the door slightly. He stepped out of the kitchen. But not before looking back at the other two.

"You know, you guys really suit each other." With those left words, Kuronue shut the door close.

Leaving a red-faced Shuichi and an even darker red-faced Botan.

"W-what did he mean?" Botan stammered.

Shuichi shook his head. "I think we both know what he meant."

Everything was silent. Only the sound of the spinning fan could be heard.

'You guys really suit each other'? Did Kuronue really mean that or did he meant is as nothing but a tease? Botan couldn't help but ponder. And the longer she thought about it, the longer she considered it, the redder her face was growing, and the faster her heart was beating. Those butterflies were back again, fluttering their wings in her stomach. Well, Shuichi and her were alone now right? There was no one else there; it was just the two of them. But could she really confess? Could she really tell him how she felt? She was still afraid that he might not feel the same way. Sure, he teased her... but still, she can't be too hopeful, right?

Shuichi on the other hand, was thinking of entirely different thoughts than hers. What was Kuronue planning? Was that his way of silently telling him to just confess his feelings for her? Most likely. Besides Hiei, Yusuke and Kuwabara, Kuronue was also one of his closest friends who knew him and able to fathom what he was feeling and what his thoughts were, so there was a high possibility that Kuronue did notice his feelings for Botan.

If that was the case, then he might as well just tell her already. What was the use of keeping those feelings bottled up inside him anyway? "Botan," he started, his voice serious.

She turned to look at him. Pink tinting her cheeks. "W-what?"

"If it were you, would you think that, too? Would you think we go well together?" Shuichi asked out of the blue.

Botan's eyes widened. "Eh?"

His eyes stared straight at her, looking deep into her soul, searching for an answer in her face. They seemed to glint, in...something she couldn't really put her finger on. "I-I..."

Why was she standing there like an idiot for? Just tell him, dammit! Taking a few, deep breaths to calm herself down, Botan finally mustered up her courage to finally tell him of her feelings. "Shuichi, I think..." She looked down.

He gulped down a lump, and waited patiently for her to continue.

"I think..." She looked up at him, with determination written all over her face. "I love you."

For a moment, Shuichi's breath hitched in his throat. His emerald eyes widened, his mouth hung slightly agape, as he stared at her. His mouth parted, as if he wanted to say something. But nothing came out. He was happy... Too happy even. So happy that he was loss for words.

Botan though, thought differently. "You don't feel the same way, do you..."

His happiness was immediately gone in an instant. He snapped out of his trance, going still all of a sudden at her words. "Botan, I-"

Shuichi didn't manage to continue when tears started to cascade down her cheeks. That face... She looked so sad, and broken-hearted, Shuichi finally found his voice. He needed to tell her. "I..."

Botan ran out of the kitchen.

. . .

Kuronue almost jumped at the sound of a loud slam.

He turned around to look what the source of the noise was. "Oi, who-" There was a flash of azure, and he caught a glimpse of glistening tears on a face.

_Botan._

"Botan-san!" He sat the tray filled of juice drinks he was holding on one of his customer's table. He didn't know Botan much, but he was never the type of person who would leave someone else feeling sorrowful. Plus, she seemed like an important person to Shuichi. He made a move to chase after her, only to be stopped by a tug at his shoulder.

He turned around to look at the owner, and upon seeing Shuichi, he parted his lips to utter out something but the redhead silenced him before he could. "Don't, I'll go after her."

Kuronue was astounded. He nodded his head absent-mindedly. "Uh-huh," was his only reply and it came out in a mere whisper.

He watched as Shuichi ran out of the café, going after the girl he loved. Kuronue stared at the spot his close friend had been at, and a small smile slowly formed at his lips. "Ah, love..."

He then chuckled. "Glad that you've finally found someone, Shuichi..."

* * *

><p>Botan leaned against the wall, the hard surface felt cold against her clothed back. Her breath was laboured, and she had tear tracks on her face. "Damn maid outfit..." she cursed under her breath, the said outfit clinging tightly to her skin like glue, making her feel even more breathless. Running hurt.<p>

_Love hurts._

She took in oxygen greedily, staring up the blue sky with glistened eyes. After some more seconds, Botan finally caught her breath, and as soon as she did, she sank to the ground, bringing her knees up to her chest and buried her hurt-filled face in them. "Damn love..."

Everything was silent for a while. Then she heard footsteps. But that was normal, right? After all, she was in an alley. People would pass by, so those were probably the sound of the passer bys' footsteps. Though it was getting dark... would people actually pass there?

...A moment passed, and the realization came crashing down on her like bricks.

The footsteps.

They stopped.

Right in front of her.

She looked up in alarm, and upon lifting her head, she was greeted by the sight of three men. And none of them looked nice. They had this look on their faces. Predatory grins and lustful eyes... Her own eyes widened in realization of what they were planning to do to her. Colour drained from her and fear overcame her. She shakily stood up, and tried to run away, but her trembling legs only managed to slow her down and one of them tugged harshly at her wrist.

"Let go of me, you scumbags!" she shouted, hoping for someone to hear her. But not one person could be seen. She struggled against the man's grip, but failed miserably and she was suddenly aware of her fragile condition. She didn't have any strength to fight back since she run out of all her energy running away from Shuichi. For a brief second, she wished she hadn't done that in the first place. Shuichi had chased her, cried out to her, but she didn't listen. She had lost him somewhere along the time she spent wasting all her energy on trying to escape from him. There was no way he would be there anytime soon.

A dark chuckle erupted from the lips of the one holding her. "'Scumbags', eh? That's a pretty mean way to address us, isn't it, little maid?" His other hand reached out to cup her chin, and forced her to look at him when she tried to look away. "Aren't you going to apologize?"

"Never!" Botan yelled stubbornly. She was scared, that was true. But she would never give up. Not now, not ever. "People like you don't deserve an apology!"

"Eh? Don't deserve an apology, huh..." The second one spoke, his eyes glued completely to her form.

"Why don't we teach her a lesson to be more polite?" The third one suggested, his brown eyes dark with desire.

"I'm not scared of you!" she tried to snatch her wrist away from the first one's grasp, but still, she wasn't successful.

The said man laughed, obviously pleased at the way she was trying to resist them. "It's futile," he started, "you won't win against us."

Botan didn't give him a response, instead she focused on getting away from his tight hold. Her hand hurt, that disgraceful man was threatening to break its bones.

"Oi, little maid," he went on, "you should've at least predicted this. I mean, you go out, walk around with those clothes... Don't you think you had this coming?" His voice was taunting her, and it made her feel helpless. Her eyes stared at him with nothing but hate and disgust as his lips neared hers. "We're going to have a little fun with you, you little whore..."

From the corner of her eyes, she saw the other two stepped closer to her. Overwhelmed with despair, Botan shut her eyes tight, tears falling down her cheeks. Desperate for them to just get it all over with.

She felt his disgusting breath ghosted over her lips, and began to sob uncontrollably. She waited for the degrading feeling of that man's lips pressed against hers, but it never came. Though she kept her eyes closed, too afraid to see what was going to happen next.

_Punch! _

_"Shit, that fucking hurts! You crazy asshole!"_

_"What the fuck is his problem?!"_

What was happening? What were those sound of hits and kicks she kept hearing? Questions flooded her head, and curiosity took over. Botan's eyes flicked open, and they widened as instantly as she saw the scene in front of her.

Shuichi was there. He was panting, dark aura was surrounding him, his head hung low and bangs covered his eyes and she caught sight of two of the men earlier lying on the ground with their noses either broken or their mouths bleeding. They stood up with trembling legs and ran away from there, yelling out apologies and begging for him to let them go. Shuichi was actually there, and he beat those two up...

Just for her sake.

The man let go of her, and pushed her to Shuichi. The redhead caught her in his arms and she finally saw his face. Shuichi... He looked so pissed off. His eyes holding an intense malice and hostility as he stared at the man. His teeth was gritted, and his fists were clenched. For the first time in her life, Botan could've sworn she had never seen someone so angry before.

Shuichi pushed her away gently. She blinked. "S-Shuichi...?"

"Sorry, just...stay out of the way for a while..." was his only reply. His voice was soft, but the underlying anger in it didn't go unnoticed by Botan. She nodded her head slowly. And still, even then, he didn't take his eyes off the man.

Shuichi strolled to him, his gaze intensifying as he stepped closer and closer to him. The man could do nothing but stare up at him with a frightened expression contorting his face. After he was sure they were near enough, Shuichi's hands flew to his collar, and he tugged, pulling the man violently up to his feet.

He took a deep breath, and closed his eyes, before opening them again. His mouth opened...

"What did you call her? A whore? Don't you dare call her that! Take that back!" he yelled out threateningly.

"I-I'm sorry. I take it back, I take it back, I take it back... Just, please don't hurt me..." the man cried.

"I don't think I'm able to do that," Shuichi said in a low voice, and the man grew panicked. "I'm going to hurt you so bad, you'll beg for me to stop." As instantly as those words left his lips, his fist flew to the man's face. But before it could even reach its 'target', a hand stopped him. And it felt so comforting, so soft...that he almost forgot his wrath.

_Almost._

"Don't stop me, Botan."

"You don't have to do this."

He looked back at her, his hardened expression softening slightly as his eyes landed on her face. But he kept his voice stern. "This guy needs to be taught a lesson."

"You're right," she started, "but it's not right to beat someone up. Stop it. It's enough."

She stared at him, a small smile tugged at her lips and she gave him a reassuring look. "I'm alright."

A few moments passed, and Shuichi let out a defeated sigh. He smiled back at her. Then turned to look back at the man, and shot him a death glare. His gaze was enough to make anyone run away for their lives. "Listen to me, you pitiful piece of garbage... Don't you ever... ever touch my woman again!" He growled.

Botan's eyes widened at his words. His woman? Did that mean...?

"Y-yes...! I promise!" the man practically begged.

With that, Shuichi let go of him and he scurried his way out of there, screaming out something about never touching a girl in an alley ever again. Shuichi's face softened and he looked back at Botan, letting out a sigh as he did so.

"You should've let me do what I have to do."

"I told you, I'm fine."

He raised his arms up in defeat. "If you say so."

Shuichi was now suddenly aware of the bright smile carved on her features. He arched an eyebrow at her. "What is it?"

Botan shook her head a bit, "Nothing. Just... did you mean what you said? About me being your woman?" she asked, wanting confirmation.

His cheeks flushed red in embarrassment at her words. Nonetheless, he nodded his head as a response. Her smile widened - if such a thing was even possible. "Is that so..." she muttered happily. "I thought you didn't like me..."

Shuichi gave her a smile. "That's because you ran away before I could even tell you my answer..."

"You were quiet, so I thought...!"

"That's because I was too happy that I couldn't say anything, you idiot," he countered, and flicked her forehead.

She pouted at him, and rubbed her forehead before the smile came back - touching her eyes with joy and relief. "I guess this is all my fault, huh?"

"Exactly," he said bluntly. "You should've let me finish."

Botan broke into a fit of giggles. "I'm sorry," she told him.

The redhead's smile widened. "It's okay, forget it." He then brought a finger to her chin, lifted her head up to look directly at him. His gaze gentle and full of affection as he finally said those three words:

"I love you."

And he lowered his head, and pressed his lips softly against hers. It was just a simple, and brief kiss. He pulled away after only a few seconds. His lips quirked up into a wide smile, his eyes glimmering with nothing but love for the girl in front of him. "Just a fair warning though, I'm really possessive and easily jealous," he playfully stated.

She giggled once again before placing her lips near his ear, "I don't mind," she seductively whispered. He chuckled at this, and with that, their lips touched again. Sealing their new and starting relationship with a long, passionate kiss.

Shuichi's phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket and they broke off the lip lock. Shuichi and Botan stared at each other for a moment, and then he fetched the piece of machinery in his pocket. Opening it, he saw his mother's name displayed on the screen.

_From: Mother, to: Shuichi - 'Are you guys having fun on your date? :) If you have enough of playing around, come home. Now. We'll be waiting for you. Muah. Love, mother'._

The two laughed as they read the message. Shuichi closed his mobile phone, and stuffed it back into his pocket. "Come on, let's go home." He grabbed Botan's hand in his, and intertwined their fingers together as they started walking.

"So does this mean we're dating now?" Botan suddenly asked, her head turned to him.

Shuichi darted his eyes to her. "Do you really think I'll let you go that easily?" he purred.

She blushed, but a smile could clearly be seen on her features.

"You should really wear that on our wedding night."

"Shuichi...!"

He laughed.

Yes, this was perfect. They were happy with each other. They might frustrate one another from time to time, and might even yell or in Botan's case, slap the one they loved once a while, but that was what made their relationship even more special. They felled in love, adoring everything about each other; bad points and good points. Who would've thought a mutual feeling of hatred could end up like this?

Whoever said loving someone you just love to hate is impossible?

You never know what fate has in stored for you.

* * *

><p><em>Fin.<em>


End file.
